John Hollenbeck
Professor
John Hollenbeck
Composer, drummer, percussionist, educator
It鈥檚 traditional, when paying compliment to drummers, to draw comparisons with the octopus, implying agility beyond the means of a paltry pair of human hands. But when considering John Hollenbeck, the multi-limbed creature that seems most appropriate to invoke is the mythical hydra; for while Hollenbeck is certainly no stranger to rhythmic intricacy, it鈥檚 ideas that seem to spring forth like so many heads, two more arising as one falls away.
Hollenbeck is a composer of music uncategorizable beyond the fact of being always identifiably his. A conceptualist able to translate the traditions of jazz and new music into a fresh, eclectic, forward-looking language of his own invention, intellectually rewarding yet ever accessibly vibrant. A drummer and percussionist possessed of a playful versatility and a virtuosic wit. Most of all, a musical thinker 鈥� whether putting pen to paper or conjuring spontaneous sound 鈥� allergic to repetition, forever seeking to surprise himself and his audiences.
The prolific and unpredictable nature of Hollenbeck鈥檚 output has been evident since he first emerged as a leader in late 2001, releasing four completely different albums within a matter of months. Three of them (Quartet Lucy, the duo CD Static Still, and no images, featuring several different configurations) introduced the partnership of Hollenbeck and iconoclastic vocalist Theo Bleckmann, who continue to collaborate in a variety of offbeat settings. Along with keyboardist Gary Versace, they form the Refuge Trio, as boundary-free a small group as one is likely to find.
The last of that initial burst of creativity was the self-titled debut of the Claudia Quintet, Hollenbeck鈥檚 longest-running ensemble. Over the course of its eight CDs, Claudia has cemented its reputation as one of the most innovative and adaptable units in modern jazz, so deftly attuned to one another that Hollenbeck鈥檚 most dizzying compositional leaps are taken with an air of playfulness and skewed humor. Claudia鈥檚 latest release, Evidence-Based, with special guest poet Eileen Myles takes on censorship and truth in their first Bandcamp-exclusive release.
Claudia has received grants from the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development program to compose a suite which was recorded for 2009鈥檚 Royal Toast, and from Arts International and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to travel to Brazil, Nepal, and Canada for performances. The quintet was commissioned by the University of Rochester to set the work of Kenneth Patchen as part of their 100th birthday celebration of the ground-breaking poet, which can be heard on the 2011 release What Is the Beautiful?, featuring vocals by Theo Bleckmann and Kurt Elling.
Hollenbeck has been acclaimed for his unique twist on big band music 鈥� most notably through the work of the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, which trades the gale force blowing of most such bands for a multi-hued palette of tonal colors and rich, evocative atmospheres. Their third album All Can Work, pays tribute to the Large Ensemble鈥檚 late trumpet player Laurie Frink, a key force in the group and the jazz community. The JHLE received GRAMMY nominations for all three of its releases: All Can Work in 2018, A Blessing in 2005, and eternal interlude in 2008. John was nominated again in 2013 for his arrangement of Jimmy Webb鈥檚 鈥淭he Moon鈥檚 a Harsh Mistress鈥� from the album Songs I Like a Lot, commissioned and recorded by the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, featuring vocalists Kate McGarry and Theo Bleckmann, and pianist Gary Versace. That album and its companion pieces, 2015鈥檚 Songs We Like a Lot and 2020鈥檚 Songs You Like a Lot puckishly reimagine pop songs by the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Joni Mitchell, Queen and Burt Bacharach with big band arrangements, transforming familiar songs with surprising insight and audacious wit. Songs You Like a Lot was GRAMMY-nominated for Best Jazz Large Ensemble Album.
The composer鈥檚 large-band pieces have also been recorded by Austria鈥檚 Jazz Bigband Graz on 2006鈥檚 critically-acclaimed Joys and Desires. In 2010, the CMA/FACE French-American Jazz Exchange Program awarded Hollenbeck a grant to develop work with Daniel Yvinec and the Orchestre National de Jazz of France, resulting in the release of Shut up and Dance (Bee Jazz, 2011), which includes the GRAMMY-nominated composition 鈥淔alling Men.鈥�
If these projects can safely be termed 鈥渏azz鈥� (at least by those comfortable with the label鈥檚 more progressive interpretations), they should by no means be taken as indicating that Hollenbeck鈥檚 output is limited to even that genre鈥檚 most elastic borders. His growing body of commissioned compositions relate just as obliquely to the 鈥渘ew music鈥� tag, exemplifying his ability to not so much defy categorization as to evolve beyond its necessity. One of Hollenbeck鈥檚 earliest appearances on record was as the composer of 鈥淭he Shape of Spirit,鈥� a piece for wind ensemble issued on the Mons label in 1998. The following year he composed 鈥淧rocessional and Desiderata鈥� for wind ensemble and orator (released by Challenge Records in 2001), written for and featuring the voice and trombone of John鈥檚 mentor, Bob Brookmeyer.
John鈥檚 piece 鈥淭he Cloud of Unknowing,鈥� commissioned by the Bamberg Choir in Germany, fit comfortably alongside works by J.S. Bach, Igor Stravinsky & Paul Hindemith when it was released in 2001 on the Edel Classics label, while his 2004 chamber piece 鈥淒em眉tig Bitten,鈥� commissioned by Germany鈥檚 Windsbacher Knabenchor, was released on the Rondeau label along with works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Josquin des Prez and J.S. Bach (again). In 2002, his IAJE Gil Evans Fellowship Commission piece, 鈥淎 Blessing,鈥� featuring Theo Bleckmann鈥檚 stunning vocals, was performed to critical acclaim at the IAJE Conference; and in 2003 his IAJE/ASCAP Commission, 鈥淔olkmoot,鈥� was premiered in Toronto, Canada.
In 2009, John compiled several recordings of his chamber pieces on the CD Rainbow Jimmies, made possible by his 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship. The disc includes commissions by Bang on a Can and the People鈥檚 Commissioning Fund; Ethos Percussion Group funded by the Jerome Foundation; Youngstown State University; and a piece written for the Claudia Quintet鈥檚 cross-cultural educational journey to Istanbul, commissioned by the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. Hollenbeck鈥檚 other notable works include commissions by Melbourne Jazz Festival; Edinburgh Jazz Festival; University of the Arts, Philadelphia; and Ensemble Cairn, Paris, France.
Hollenbeck received degrees in percussion and jazz composition from the Eastman School of Music before moving to New York City in the early 1990s. He was profoundly shaped by the mentorship of two hugely influential artists: trombonist/arranger/composer Bob Brookmeyer and composer/choreographer Meredith Monk. His relationship with Brookmeyer reached back to the age of 14, when he attended the SUNY Binghamton Summer Jazz Workshop, and continued at Eastman, through NEA-funded composition study, and finally on the bandstand with Brookmeyer鈥檚 New Art Orchestra and in the studio with Brookmeyer and trumpet great Kenny Wheeler. For Monk, Hollenbeck composed and performed the percussion scores for five of her works: 鈥淢agic Frequencies,鈥� 鈥淢ercy,鈥� 鈥淭he Impermanence Project,鈥� 鈥淪ongs of Ascension鈥� and 鈥淥n Behalf of Nature.鈥�
Hollenbeck鈥檚 awards and honors include six GRAMMY nominations; the 2012 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, the 2010 ASCAP Jazz Vanguard Award and a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship; winning the Jazz Composers Alliance Composition Contest in 1995 and 2002; Meet the Composer鈥檚 Grants in 1995 and 2001; and a Rising Star Arranger win in the 2012 and 2013 DownBeat Critics鈥� Polls as well as in 2011 for the JHLE as Rising Star Big Band. John was a professor of Jazz Drums and Improvisation at the Jazz Institute Berlin from 2005-2016 and in 2015 joined the faculty of 91社区鈥檚 Schulich School of Music.
