All Can Work (New Amsterdam Records)
John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble
Released January 26, 2018
Grammy Nominee for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album 2019
New York Times Best Jazz Albums of 2018
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k33O9CJj9InYIMQYXOkzsiWOAVcnTvQ6Q
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About:
All Can Work represents The John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble’s accumulation of years rehearsing, recording and performing together since its founding in 1998 — the definitive evolution of an exceptional ensemble that has developed a relationship akin to family (some members of which Hollenbeck has been playing with since high school and college). The album also pays tribute to artists who have influenced Hollenbeck most throughout the years: Bob Brookmeyer, Kenny Wheeler, Billy Strayhorn, John Taylor, William Shakespeare, and Piet Mondrian.
The album opens with “lud” — an alluring, hypnotic blend of triumphant horns and angular keys. After the title track comes “Elf”, inspired by composer Billy Strayhorn’s piece of the same name that was retitled and repurposed by Duke Ellington as “Isfahan” for the Far East Suite. Hollenbeck’s version is a near-inverse of the original, featuring soprano saxophonist Tony Malaby playing in an impressively high register. Pulsing horns open on “Heyoke”, Hollenbeck’s tribute to composer/trumpeter and flugelhorn player Kenny Wheeler and jazz pianist John Taylor, featuring Hollenbeck’s arrangements of Wheeler’s original. “This kiss” follows, capturing the spirit of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” by creating a mood of sweet romance in the present with a foreboding dissonance that foreshadows the future.
“From trees” shows Hollenbeck exploring Piet Mondrian’s study of trees in his early works, in particular his unfinished painting “Broadway Boogie-Woogie.” Hollenbeck fittingly incorporates a boogie-woogie feel into the piece while trying to evoke the evolution of the lines of a tree in Mondrian’s earlier paintings to the bold straight black lines in his last. “Long Swing Dream” embodies the first and (so far) only time a piece came to Hollenbeck in an actual dream. Horns pass around a continuous bass line, while Theo Bleckmann voices musings from Cary Grant about Grant’s transformative experiences with LSD (the acronym of the song title) deepen the dream-like effect. The album finishes with “The Model” — Hollenbeck’s spirited arrangement of the Kraftwerk original.
All Can Work was recorded by James Farber at Avatar Studios in NYC in June 2017 with assistance from Nate Odden. It was mixed by Brian Montgomery, and mastered by Brent Lambert at Kitchen Mastering. It was produced by John Hollenbeck.
This project was supported in part by the Doris Duke Performing Artists Awards and fiscally sponsored by Arete Living Arts Foundation with funding provided by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.
Additional large ensemble releases by John Hollenbeck include: Joys and Desires (Jazz Big Band Graz, 2005), Shut Up and Dance (Orchestre National de Jazz, 2010, Grammy-nominated), Songs I Like A Lot (Frankfurt Radio Big Band, 2013, Grammy-nominated) and Songs We Like A Lot (Frankfurt Radio Big Band, 2015).
Track Listing:
1. lud (John Hollenbeck) 3:29
2. All Can Work (John Hollenbeck) 10:02
3. Elf (Billy Strayhorn) 6:21
4. Heyoke (Kenny Wheeler) 13:49
5. this kiss (John Hollenbeck) 9:41
6. from trees (John Hollenbeck) 9:50
7. Long Swing Dream (John Hollenbeck) 7:26
8. The Model (Emil Schult, Karl Bartos, Ralf Huetter) 4:41
Personnel:
Ben Kono: soprano/alto/tenor sax, flute
Jeremy Viner: clarinet, tenor sax
Tony Malaby: tenor/soprano sax on 3, 6
Dan Willis: tenor sax, clarinet
Anna Webber: flute, tenor sax on 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8
Bohdan Hilash: clar/bass clarinet, bass sax, tubax
Mark Patterson: trombone
Mike Christianson: trombone
Jacob Garchik: trombone, euphonium on 8
Alan Ferber: trombone on 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Jeff Nelson: trombone on 1, 7, 8
Tony Kadleck: trumpet, flugelhorn
Jon Owens: trumpet, flugelhorn
Dave Ballou: trumpet, flugelhorn
Matt Holman: trumpet, flugelhorn
Chris Tordini: acoustic, electric bass
Matt Mitchell: piano, organ, keyboard
Patricia Brennan: vibes, marimba, glockenspiel
John Hollenbeck: drums, composition
Theo Bleckmann: voice
JC Sanford: conductor
Recorded June 15-16, 2017, at Studio C, Avatar Studios, NYC, by James Farber, assisted by Nate Odden
Mixed by Brian Montgomery
Mastered by Brent Lambert
Review:
Drummer-composer John Hollenbeck has for 20 years excelled at writing music that balances oddness and sublimity. But it’s never had quite the overtly personal dimension that it does on All Can Work, an homage to Hollenbeck’s departed friends, colleagues, mentors and influences, performed by his 20-piece Large Ensemble. It’s also never been more beautiful.
The sweeping title track encompasses all of those attributes, from beauty to strangeness to soul-baring. Hollenbeck’s tribute to the Ensemble’s late trumpeter Laurie Frink takes her emails to the composer as its lyrics; it turns out to be a mosaic of mundanities—“OK fine,” “Cool,” “Doesn’t matter”—set against sweet reeds and soaring horns. But that just enhances the emotional payload. The finale finds Theo Bleckmann singing, repeating and fragmenting, with increasingly operatic accompaniment, “I will miss you all, and especially the music.”
The glory of that moment on the second track suggests that the album peaks early, and in its poignancy, it does. But the craftsmanship and ingenuity maintain their high level throughout—as does the expression. There’s the mischief of “Elf,” Hollenbeck’s delicious inversion of Billy Strayhorn’s “Isfahan” (featuring an enchantment of a soprano sax solo by Tony Malaby), and the bewilderment of the Mondrian tribute “from trees,” somehow shambolic, symphonic and funky all at once as it features Anna Webber’s teasing tenor and ultimately finds its way to joy. The closing twofer, “Long Swing Dream” and an almost laughably dense cover of Kraftwerk’s “The Model,” seem to wallow in their own zaniness—and have a good time doing it. There is an embarrassment of riches on All Can Work, but it’s the title tune that most strongly catches hold.
Michael J. West (JazzTimes)
