Jon3 31.i.11 Shut Up and Dance!

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Write 10 pieces, one for each member of the band, inspired by the place where music and dancing meet. That was the brief that drummer and composer John Hollenbeck was given by the Artistic Director of France’s Orchestre National de Jazz for their aptly named collaboration Shut Up And Dance. With leading improvisers from all sides of the French jazz scene at his disposal Hollenbeck (best known to Jazz on 3 listeners as the leader of the Claudia Quintet) produced some exemplary hypnotic grooves and addictive tunes. This week on Jazz On 3 you can hear the world premiere of Shut Up An Dance played live.

...why doesn’t Britain have a publicly funded and artistically progressive jazz orchestra?...

Joining me [Jez] in the studio between sets are two people with a view; John Cumming, the director of the UK’s largest jazz promotion company Serious and Nick Smart the Head of Jazz at the Royal Academy of Music.

from the newsletter ....Hollenbeck is not without favourable mention in these parts for his composing/arranging for larger ensembles and is the drummer in the Claudia Quintet

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

liked the music and the band, well worth picking up on iplayer ... catchy quirky and funky too with no sacrifice of intelligence or subtlety ...

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Yes, I caught part of it. Well worth a listen, some nice textures. At times it went a bit Santana for me but I'm an old git with a de-tuned banjo.

BN O Bus Pass.

Interesting discussion in the middle about the merit of jazz et subsidies. My money's on the French.

[Ian Thumwood]

The Hollenbeck gig was excellent but I am glad that the composer was on hand to add his skill behind the drum kit as I feel that the patterns he employs are instrumental to the way that his music works.

There was a discussion several years back on the old Messageboard where future developments in jazz were discussed and different proposals for how people perceived the music evolving. I think that Hollenbeck is at the core of this question as , like so many great composers before him, he is employing the gift of improvisors onto a very idiosyncratic approach to the music. There seems to be alot of shifting meters within his compositions and they obviously seem to be following a prety convoluted form or structure as well. I've not really heard much by the Claudia Quintet but I have two CD's by his large ensembles which are hugely impressive. It was noticeable that this band had quite a small horn section (no lack of punch though) and I liked the way that the music was multi-layered.

Throwing my hat into a very contentious ring, might it not be a prudent question to ask that it will be the composers are writers who will take jazz on into the next decade more than the role of the soloist? I really feel that composition is making a huge difference to the quality of jazz now being played. There seem to be far more adventurous and free-thinking composers around in this century than at any time in the music's history. Record reviews seem chock-a-block with names that are new to me who are writing for larger ensembles or at least bands where writing plays a big part. It is a very interesting time to be into jazz. And , to toss a friendly hand grenade into Serial Apologists direction, what does this say for totally, spontaneous improvisation in a jazz context? Whilst I wouldn't deny the fact that this is an essential ingredient in the contemporary jazz vocabulary, it no longer is the vanguard of the most adventurous jazz being performed now having been absorbed totally within the tradition. I feel that is is jazz composition that is providing the vehical for the most exciting developments in the music with the concept of what both small and big bands should sound like being challenged in a way that even exceeds the more radical ideas put forward in the sixties. For me, each generation seems to get better and better with regard to composition, right back through to the days of Jelly Roll Morton and then Ellington. Seems to me that the likes of Hollenbeck, Schneider , Dal Sasso and Argue have definately latched on to something that couldn't have been conceived even 2 years ago when I started listening to contemporary jazz in earnest with what seems to be a multitude of talented writers following in their footsteps.