John Hollenbeck

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John Hollenbeck 2019 (at a public rehearsal with the Cologne Contemporary Jazz Orchestra in Cologne)

John Hollenbeck (born June 19, 1968 in Binghamton ) is an American jazz drummer and composer who taught in Berlin between 2005 and 2016.

Live and act

Hollenbeck, who was already musically influenced by his 13-year-old older brother Pat Hollenbeck at the age of six , first learned piano for a year before taking lessons on drums. He first studied drums, then jazz composition at the Eastman School of Music and took part in a workshop at the Banff Center with Muhal Richard Abrams .

In the 1990s he first made a name for himself as a versatile drummer who performed with big bands such as Bob Brookmeyer's New Art Orchestra , the Village Vanguard Orchestra and the WDR Big Band as well as with the modern jazz musicians Fred Hersch and Kenny Wheeler , who Band of the trumpeter Cuong Vu or the klezmer groups of David Krakauer and Frank London . Since 1998 he has been part of the ensemble of the singer Meredith Monk ; He interprets their music in the band Future Quest, which he and Theo Bleckmann jointly lead . He also played with the Colombian Antonio Arnedo , the Argentinian Fernando Tarres and (in Carnegie Hall ) with Astor Piazzolla's pianist Pablo Ziegler .

Since the early 2000s he has worked with his own band The Claudia Quintet , which includes Chris Speed (saxophone), Matt Moran (vibraphone), Ted Reichman (accordion) and Drew Gress (bass). With this ensemble he recorded eight albums by 2015. In 1998 his composition The Shape of Spirit for wind ensemble was recorded for the Mons Records label. The following year he composed Processional and Desiderata for Bob Brookmeyer . The Cloud of Unknowing , a commissioned composition for the Bamberg Choir, was recorded on the Edel Classics label in 2001 . For the Windsbacher boys' choir he composed Humble asking . The album Joys & Desires (2005) was created with the Jazz Big Band Graz and Theo Bleckmann . The Orchester National de Jazz under the direction of Daniel Yvinec recorded some of his works in 2010 ( Shut Up and Dance ). The hr big band played three programs with his arrangements of popular songs ( Songs I Like a Lot and Songs We Like a Lot released on phonograms, unlike Songs You Like a Lot from 2019).

Hollenbeck worked from 2005 to 2016 as professor for drums, percussion and ensemble at the Jazz Institute Berlin . Max Andrzejewski was one of his students . Since 2016 he has been a professor at McGill University in Montreal. He can also be heard on albums by Scott Fields , Tony Malaby , Johannes Enders , Henning Sieverts , Anette von Eichel , Jürgen Friedrich ( mono suite ), Guy Klucevsek and Anna Webber .

Prizes and awards

Hollenbeck has received several grants and composition commissions, including the National Endowment Grant (1994) and the Meet the Composer's Grant (1995 and 2001). He was nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association as Up and Coming Jazz Musician of the Year (2004 and 2006) and Composer of the Year (2006), by Down Beat Magazine as Rising Star Composer (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006), Rising Star Jazz Artist (2006), Rising Star Arranger (2006) and Rising Star Big Band (2006). His arrangement of The Moon's a Harsh Mistress on the album Songs I Like a Lot was nominated for a Grammy in 2014 in the category “Best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocals”.

John Hollenbeck at the Tonspuren Irsee Festival 2014

Discographic notes

Web links

Commons : John Hollenbeck  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jazz composer Hollenbeck blurs lines at NEC, Lily Pad Boston Globe , September 18, 2014
  2. ↑ Songs You Like a Lot (hr-bigband)
  3. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online March 16, 2014)
  4. ↑ Songs I Like a Lot (hr) ( Memento from March 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Hollenbeck, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz drummer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Binghamton