PRESS QUOTES: THE CLAUDIA QUINTET - SEMI-FORMAL - CUNEIFORM [RUNE 217] - 2005 “Painter Georges Seurat, the inventor of pointillism, believed that small, discrete units of color could be effectively juxtaposed to interact in complex yet clarifying ways. John Hollenbeck, drummer and maestromind behind the Claudia Quintet's third release, Semi-Formal, seems to employ a similar modus operandi in his innovative compositional techniques. Writing for a quintet of sonically similar instruments, Hollenbeck exploits their individuality by leaving room on his canvas for each voice to sound alone, even as they are effectively conjoined in a constantly changing aural mosaic that, for all its discrete tessellation, remains of a piece. …aficionados will find much to savor in the blending of sonorities, the subtle yet structurally sound compositional architecture, the “palette-cleansing” segues that thematically link the tracks, and the sophisticated time signatures and rhythmic phrase structures that swing so hard they appear effortless; casual listeners will appreciate the driving grooves and prog-rock edge of tracks like “Major Nelson” and “Two Teachers” interspersed with zen-like moments of breath and relaxation. Highlights include Chris Speed's thoughtfully liberated tenor musings on “They point…,” his out-chorus obbligatos on “Drewslate,” accordionist Ted Reichman's hard-moshing organ-grinder grunge on “Two Susans,” and bassist Drew Gress' conversational solo on “Limp Mint” and fine rhythmic support throughout. The shimmering wash of Matt Moran's vibraphone provides continuous counterpoint, commingling with the accordion, electric piano, and clarinet in close clusterings of heterogeneous sound. … Like the paintings of Seurat, close and repeated inspections of Semi-Formal will reveal the sophisticated thought processes underlying it, a polyphonic plexus of carefully structured creativity. However, if we stand back from the work, putting it into larger perspective, the continually morphing pixels coalesce into a chromatic composite, a synergistic whole belying the individuality of its parts.” - Thomas H. Greenland, All About Jazz, 10/15/05, www.allaboutjazz.com “…Semi-Formal is an interesting synergy of improvisation, Steve Reich-like minimalism and changing moods effected by varying grooves: techno rave drums, pseudo and authentic hip-hop, and polyrhythmic patterns. Semi-Formal harkens back to some forms of Gagaku, an ancient Japanese court instrumental music where each timbre, instrumental or chordal development leads to a heightened emotional change. The music slowly draws you in as you delight in each turn of events. The Claudia Quintet is an incredibly sensitive group of players, each working with full sensory awareness of the others' playing style. Hollenbeck's compositions warrant sensitive treatment, which these chamber jazz musicians carefully give them. …Most of the pieces segue into each other. …Semi-Formal plays like quirky vignettes of Hollenbeck's personal experiences, all with interesting titles and hidden tales behind the music. …The subtle contrasts alluded to on Semi-Formal are enhanced by experiencing the band in a live setting. Often the blending of clarinet or tenor sax, accordion and vibes gave a rich tonal blanket for the driving grooves that Hollenbeck and bassist Drew Gress set for the different sections of the tunes. Chris Speed's tenor saxophone solo…alluded to the high-energy tenor solos of John Coltrane… The “jazz process” continues with the explorative efforts of groups like the Claudia Quintet, a band at the vanguard of a progressive movement.” - Judith Insell, All About Jazz, www.allaboutjazz.com “…the group expands on the vocabulary of I, Claudia and each member adds new instruments to his respective arsenal. …Semi-Formal continues to explore the meeting point of through-composition, exploratory improvisation, and textural soundscapes…but with a clear evolution and a honed style that makes this its most fully-realized record to date. …the steadily developing sound of the quintet takes his distinctive writing and fashions it into a unique shape that would be completely different were the material to be tackled by another group of players. In fact, the makeup of the group - unchanged since its first release - is what gives Semi-Formal its inimitable complexion… …Track sequencing is something most artists labor over, but one couldn't imagine it any other way on Semi-Formal. A narrative in the truest sense these 65 minutes tell a story that is ultimately circuitous; the hypnotic ambience of the closing “Minor Nelson” leads right back to the equally trance-inducing opening track, “Major Nelson.” But that's only the beginning, as “Major Nelson” quickly shifts into a more propulsive, richly contrapuntal rock rhythm. Impossible to categorize stylistically, the album's boundaries are further broken by shifting musical responsibilities. At one moment, Chris Speed's saxophone carries the bottom end while Drew Gress' bass floats above. At another, Ted Reichman's accordion assumes the melodic lead, a textural backwash and polyrhythmic cohort with Matt Moran's vibraphone. Clearly the quintet views itself as a mini-orchestra, rather than an ensemble based on traditional roles. …It's wholly appropriate that this release appear on Cuneiform, a progressive and impossible to pigeonhole label. …Contemporary classical, jazz, minimal, progressive… genre matters not. The Claudia Quintet is, quite simply, a category all its own - a group of players with the kind of infinite reach to give Hollenbeck's captivating compositions an approach like no other.” - John Kelman, All About Jazz, 10/6/05, www.allaboutjazz.com “The quintet's second date for Cuneiform Records offers additional credence to the band's distinctive game-plan. Clarinetist Chris Speed's lilting lines over-the-top provide flotation-like elements amid the ensemble's quaintly organized themes. The musicians delve into minimalist environs toward the second half of this program, which is an element that offers alternating perspective.” - Glenn Astarita, “December 2005: New & Noteworthy,” All About Jazz, www.allaboutjazz.com Paul Olson: New Releases - Claudia Quintet, Semi-Formal, Cuneiform Phil DiPietro: New Releases - Claudia Quintet, John Hollenbeck, Semi-Formal, Cuneiform - “Ten Top Tens: 2005 - More selections by ten senior staffers…” All About Jazz, 1/6/06, www.allaboutjazz.com John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet - Semi-Formal (Cuneiform) - David Adler, NY@Night Columnist, “December 2005: Recommended New Releases,” All About Jazz, www.allaboutjazz.com Claudia Quintet - Semi-Formal (Cuneiform) - Bruce Gallanter (Proprietor, Downtown Music Gallery), “November 2005: Recommended New Releases,” All About Jazz, 10/6/05, www.allaboutjazz.com Albums of the Year: Claudia Quintet - Semi-Formal (Cuneiform) - Andrey Henkin, “All About Jazz-New York's Best of 2005,” All About Jazz-New York, newyork.allaboutjazz.com “Selected picks representing the top recorded events in jazz and beyond for 2005… Progressive/Other: The Claudia Quintet, Semi-Formal (Cuneiform)” - John Kelman, “Editor's Choice: John Kelman's Best of 2005,” All About Jazz, 1/3/06, www.allaboutjazz.com “…Drummer/leader John Hollenbeck's compositions for The Claudia Quintet evoke occasional…memories of Steve Reich's pattern music, where initial repetition soon evolves into subtle variation, and Matt Moran's vibraphone playing draws the connection even closer to Reich's music for interweaving mallet instruments. You could just as well invoke the beautiful precision of M.C. Escher's drawings, for the mathematics involved are that smooth. As neatly machined as this music can be, however, the group's music welcomes friction, combustion and surprise. The band's third album, Semi-Formal builds on the designs of the previous I, Claudia. The core instrumentation…has been amended. Gress triples on electric and pedal steel guitars this time, while the others add keyboards. Digital manipulation seems to play a larger part as well… Call it enhancement rather than distraction, for the tension between composition and elaboration continues to prod them. Change is often a constant. …The music is never frantic for its own sake. …The Claudians are evidently a good-humoured bunch - the sleeve graphics seem to cock a snook at New Order…” - Randal McIlroy, Coda, Issue 325, Jan/Feb 2006 “Tom Hull: Music Year 2005 - This is my year-end list for records released in 2005. New Records: 81. The Claudia Quintet: Semi-Formal (Cuneiform)” - Tom Hull, www.tomhull.com “Leader John Hollenbeck is a drummer, so it isn't a surprise that the pieces are all rhythm studies… Although the soft tones - accordion, clarinet, vibes - still predominate, the textures have loosened up since 2004's I, Claudia… But the most welcome innovation comes when Chris Speed reminds us that he also plays a mean tenor sax. A MINUS” - Tom Hull, “Jazz Consumer Guide: Pick Hits,” The Village Voice, 5/30/06, www.villagevoice.com “What maybe looks like a fun side project has done saxophonist Chris Speed, guitarist/accordionist Ted Reichman, vibist Matt Moran, bassist/guitarist Drew Gress and drummer/keys/composer John Hollenbeck no harm at all, pulling down lots of admiring press. It's music that, in keeping with Cuneiform's devotion to…uncategorisable forms, breaks down boundaries. Lots of clever stuff and a leaven of humour…make it an appealing set…genuinely though-provoking. But, a mystery: it's the Claudia Quintet, they play a passionate hymn to “Susan” and Hollenbeck proposes to a Kate on the cover. What gives? Did she say yes? I need to know.” - Brian Morton, “Jazz & Improv,” Wire, Issue 263, Jan. 2006 “The top ten recordings of 2005…. 9. Claudia Quintet (John Hollenbeck) - Semi-Formal (Cuneiform) Hollenbeck and his band establish themselves as perennial favorites. Fantastically “new” compositions executed flawlessly, yet dangerously, by master players. Here's hoping their release schedule keeps up with the “perennial” thing.” - Philip DiPietro, Jazz House, www.jazzhouse.org “The Claudia Quintet utilize unusual rhythmic patterns, creative repetitions, and such instruments as accordion, vibes and clarinet to create a dramatic set of music. As much a soundtrack for a nonexistent movie as it is a jazz set, the music on Semi-Formal is quite cinematic, moody, and thoroughly intriguing. …this is very much a 13-song suite, with one selection leading logically if unpredictably to another. In a similar way, the individual musicians, although impressive by themselves, are most important being part of the group sound, adding to the wide variety of tonal colors. Semi-Formal…is well worthy of several listens.” - Scott Yanow, All Music Guide, www.allmusic.com “…Mixing minimalist avant-rock, fiery improvisation and razor sharp writing, these boys manage to reference everything from the metric trickery of Dave Holland (“Drewslate”) to the glowing ambience of The Necks (“Kord”), but they don't really sound like anyone but themselves. Anchored by Hollenbeck's considerable percussive skills and the warm precision of Drew Gress's bass, vibes and accordion weave glowing chords and dense thickets of melody. Chris Speed's tenor and clarinet solos give welcome grit… Though Hollenbeck's music is undoubtedly clever stuff…it's played with enough heart to make it lovable rather then just admirable. Brilliant.” - Peter Marsh. BBC Online, www.bbc.co.uk “…The highlight of the crop is SEMI-FORMAL, the third recording by THE CLAUDIA 5TET…a very fresh Jazz band with unusual instrumentation played by some major talents… Hollenbeck composed all 13 tracks…which are complex and filled with time shifts and tightly arranged melodies, never using anything like standard song form. These compositions, like the band itself, shift quickly from theme to theme, and are always surprising and accessible. Drew Gress is as solid as he always is, and the reeds of Chris Speed…are a true delight. But Hollenbeck makes the most of the unusual combination of Reichman's accordion with Moran's vibes, so the instrumentation itself makes the recording stand out. This is a quintet we hope has a long life with much more music to offer us.” - Phillip McNally, “Hodgepodge & Shorties,” Cadence, April 2006 “…The music is a mix between notated parts and improvisation, which you can typify a chamber version of jazz. Complex structures are played with such a finesse and delicacy that you don't perceive them as such, they tend to work in a more textural way. The sound of the vibes often adds a lot of depth to the sound and as a side-effect also makes you think of Tortoise, although Claudia Quintet have a higher pace and are more rooted in jazz. After two quick tunes, the band slows down to an almost Morton Feldman-like pace in Kord, rudely interrupted by the fast groove of They Point…, while the vibes seem to maintain the slowness of the previous track… Susan reminds of Bill Frisell's work on albums like This Land. …the album closes with Minor Nelson, which has an electronic appeal to it. …Great musicianship and lots of exciting ideas and moods that escape the pigeonholes of traditional jazz and contemporary composed music easily. Kudos: 5 STARS” - Martijn Busink, Musique Machine, www.musiquemachine.com “…An inventive amalgamation of Downtown compositional intricacies, post-minimalist classical technique, and a contemporary post-rock instrumental vibe, along with a healthy dose of non-Western concepts, the Claudia Quintet is truly an unclassifiable ensemble. …Hollenbeck has…collaborated with an astonishingly varied set of artists. From traditional jazz giants like trombonist Bob Brookmeyer to New Music visionary Meredith Monk and contemporaries like trumpeter Cuong Vu and clarinetist David Karkauer, Hollenbeck has amassed an intensely varied world of sound to draw from, and he never shies away from the opportunity to blend his experiences with the Claudia Quintet. The group's dominant instrumentation…has a unique, unclassifiable sound to it. Accordion and vibraphone make for an intriguingly rich instrumental color blend when combined with either woody clarinet or breathy tenor sax. In lesser hands, this instrumental assemblage would have an almost nostalgically folksy air to them, but as employed by this group, they almost always sound strangely futuristic. …Hollenbeck has expanded the quintet's sound palette… With all members doubling on secondary instruments and electronics, the quintet has access to an expanded spectrum of sound… For this third release, Hollenbeck has arranged and structured an album that feels more like a suite than a conventional selection of songs. Where certain pieces have obvious ties to postmodern jazz, others are definitely aligned with contemporary chamber music or present acoustic variations on funky drum-n-bass rhythms. The opening piece, “Major Nelson”…resembles classical minimalism, but only on the surface. The tune has a frenetic rhythmic momentum to it that feels more akin to instrumental prog-rock with the timbral quality of jazz, than it does contemporary classical music. … Short transitional pieces such as the minimal keyboard etude, “Kord”, alternate with more frenzied workouts like “They Point…”. After Hollenbeck introduces the piece with an acoustically driven organic drum-n-bass rhythm, the quintet slowly appears, one by one, until the entire ensemble is engaged in a string of punchy solos over the rhythm section's numerous tempo changes. …most of the solos…are fairly brief and economical. This is a composer's album first and foremost, not a free-wheeling blowing session. The short keyboard pieces that Hollenbeck inserts between the longer-form compositions work as “bridges” from one tune to the next. Acting as sonic breathing space between the album's more intense pieces, these minimal, ambient interludes generate a structural flow over repeated listens that makes the album's suite-like structure more implicit and unified. …With their distinctive merger of old world timbres and futuristic concepts, the Claudia Quintet truly sounds like no other working ensemble today.” - Troy Collins, One Final Note, 11/28/05, www.onefinalnote.com “…jazz is a good mixer, constantly embracing, conflating and consuming genres to evolve. It's an inclusive ethos, as unafraid of rutting with mongrels…as interbreeding with pedigree. Cue the semi-classical meld of The Claudia Quintet. Previous assessments have invoked the minimalism of Steve Reich; the post-rock of Tortoise, Frank Zappa, Astor Piazzolla, Balkan dance, West African beats, electronica - a maze of cross references. I don't know if it meets Satchmo's exacting standards and I don't care, I'm happy… File under - gestalt!” - Peter Kennedy, “Claudia Quintet a winner,” Kilburn Times / Willesden & Brent Times, 12/7/05, www.kilburntimes.co.uk / www.wbtimes.co.uk “This New York band…creates gorgeous blends of melody and texture that blur the lines between jazz and contemporary classical. …the superb new Semi-Formal (Cuneiform), features…shifting instrumentation and brief windows of improvisation, but the songs never sound coldly schematic. The band…sketches out Hollenbeck's tunes with a light touch, embroidering the rich harmonies and lovely melodies in empathic, imaginative ways. The music sometimes harks back to 70s-style minimalism a la Steve Reich, where discrete melodic patterns are run through countless permutations, but the group also has an earthy sense of groove that recalls Tortoise's best work. …” - Peter Margasak, “The Treatment: Wednesday 11” [pick for show at Umbrella Music Festival], Chicago Reader. www.chicagoreader.com “…this New York jazz ensemble…so full of accomplished players and so blessed with the ability to flit between styles, complex song structures and time signatures. …the band runs through drummer John Hollenbeck's compositions at breakneck speed, pausing only for minimal Terry Riley influenced 'palate cleansers'. These segments usually feature spare chords hanging in silence. In full flight the quintet makes its way through Slavic ethno-jazz atmospheres, Tortoise style Vibraphone-laced grooves, unabashed lounge music and shronky sax meltdowns. This whole record is so good-natured and downright accessible that it is pretty hard not to like it.” - Daniel Spencer, Cyclic Defrost, 11/2/05, www.cyclicdefrost.com “…drummer John Hollenbeck earns his tag as a leader by composing the music, but when it comes to performing it the credit couldn't be more equally distributed. This is a true ensemble from top to bottom, a sonic equivalent to a hand-woven tapestry, where the quirky personalities of the individuals surface as dynamic imperfections and variations in the patterns. …While snatches of carefully wrought improvisation erupt all over the place, the pieces here are tightly arranged from start to finish. Hollenbeck seems to draw inspiration from accessible minimalists like Steve Reich and Philip Glass - the drummer has worked with composer Meredith Monk, so that's hardly surprising - via the post-rock machinations of a group like Tortoise. He places an emphasis on tonal color, shifting textures and instrument combinations by putting concise phrases and riffs through endless permutations; inside-out, backwards and forwards, up and down. …his compositions are organized as grids of activity… Deft rhythmic subdivisions and variations give some of the longer pieces a suite-like character, but each section flows gracefully into the next. The quintet's instrumental palette has never before been this expansive, with all of the players doubling and tripling on different instruments, and the scattered solos emerge in a satisfyingly organic fashion, spouting from a passage in such a way that it might just sound like part of the writing. Impressive. 3 1/2 STARS.” - Peter Margasak, Down Beat, Vol. 73, No. 1, January 2006 “Semi-Formal features…mathematically precise, swinging tunes from one of the most unusual bands in jazz. …the Chicago comparison must be made due to the frequent rocking tempos and chamber jazz instrumentation of vibes and clarinet, but the entire affair is executed with more intense rhythmic verve. As usual, reedsman Chris Speed is a secret weapon, creating angular melodies or tonal colorations that add another layer. Drummer/leader John Hollenbeck has a way of writing for vibes, bass and drum kit so that each trades ideas while holding down the rhythm. …Another secret is their lack of skronk. Semi-Formal goes down easy with its advanced harmonic ideas couched in an ass-kicking rhythm section.” - David Dacks, Exclaim!, November 2005 [Canada] “Leader John Hollenbeck is a drummer, so it's no surprise that the pieces are all rhythm studies. Although the soft tones - accordion, clarinet, vibes - still predominate, the textures have loosened up since 2004's I Claudia… But the most welcome innovation comes when Chris Speed reminds us that he also plays a mean tenor sax. A- [jazz]” - Tom Hull, F5 Magazine, 9/7/06, www.f5wichita.com “I'm almost two-thirds through Semi-Formal, the Claudia Quintet's new album on Cuneiform Records…and I'm hooked, let me tell you, hooked in a fresh way, hallelujah! John Hollenbeck…says…he wanted to compose music that unfolds slowly, enveloping the listener in its totality. He achieves his goal in the 13 quirky compositions. …He's a fine, unpredictable composer. He works with the best and draws the best from them, and he's willfully unorthodox, an attitude I believe exemplifies the jazz approach. You can't say he's “backed” by anybody here; rather, Drew Gress…Matt Moran…Chris Speed…and Ted Reichman…collaborate with Hollenbeck, a deft, light drummer who can bring up the dominating rhythm at will. It's unsettling but ultimately pleasurable to encounter a record that challenges like this one. At a time when major labels bank on catalog and more contemporary labels recycle archival composers, its gratifying to engage with a group willing to make you think, even startle you with its originality. …While the improvisation, the probing and the drive are fierce, there also is time for contemplation… I've always been a fan of the daring and the modern, and Semi-Formal, like the best new wave rock 'n' roll, mines both veins. …” - Carlo Wolff, “Jazz & Blues Sides: News & Notes,” Goldmine, Issue 673, Vol. 32, No. 10, 5/12/06 “…an improbable lineup pf drum, reeds (Chris Speed), accordion (Ted Reichman), vibraphone (Matt Moran), and acoustic bass (Drew Gress). The snappy Hollenbeck sets the tone with his nervous energy, and the band executes the music with apparent ease. His compositions tend to be minimal and repetitive, and at times the music can seem emotionally arid. But the precision grooves that the band conjures up and the intricacy of the arrangements are reason enough to spend some time with this one. Semi-Formal offers music that grows deeper with every listen.” - Stuart Kremsky, IAJRC Journal, Vol. 39, No. 2, May 2006 “…His third Claudia release, Semi-Formal, follows his large-ensemble disc A Blessing, and the timing is apt. Hollenbeck's gift for imaginative, finely woven orchestration couldn't be clearer, whether he's working with five pieces or 16. Between Drew Gress' bass, Chris Speed's clarinet and tenor, Ted Reichman's accordion, Matt Moran's vibes and Hollenbeck's multipercussion, this band never lacks for unorthodox color, but Hollenbeck enhances it with inspired doublings. Gress adds electric and pedal-steel guitar, Hollenbeck plays piano, Moran sneaks in some baritone horn and Speed applies daubs of Casio keyboard. These sounds are a departure, and yet Semi-Formal follows logically from Claudia's previous outings in its harmonic depth, formal unpredictability, sonic clarity and overall approachability. The references span from surf rock to chamber jazz to hyperarticulate “acoustica” club beats, all rendered with exquisite precision and heedless abandon (if that's even possible). Compositionally, there are too many moments of brilliance to list here…” - David R. Adler, JazzTimes “…The clockwork precision of 'Drewslate' weds the self-conscious trickiness of Tortoise with Steve Reich's investigations into repetitive Serialism, while 'Limp Mint' is a suitably wounded, abstract groove with an impossibly disorientating rhythm and woozy vibes - like a post-rock take on Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch. Elsewhere, 'They point…' features an absurdly funky drum pattern with more vibraphone weirdness and a painfully deep acoustic bass groove like Red Snapper on ketamine. These full-length tunes are interspersed by short minimal interludes - “palette cleansers”, if you will - such as 'Kord', a one chord study in decay reminiscent of The Necks… Give these guys a degree. 3 STARS” - Daniel Spicer, Jazzwise, Issue 94, February 2006 “…Their third album…transcends the boundaries of definition: Hollenbeck is flanked by four monster multi-instrumentalists (Drew Gress, Matt Moran. Chris Speed and Ted Reichman, each one having his own fabulous CV) in a lively, unpredictable, intelligently strange pot-pourri of virtuoso technique and fragmented nomadism, the result being a record that's very accessible even during its most contorted moments. It's a new generation of contemporary audio vignettes, full of useful quirky vistas for lovers of jazz, pop, rock and avantgarde in equal measure, revealing a peculiar outlook on…today's music via fanciful playing and fresh approaches. The best aspect of Claudia probably lies in their impressive balance of heart, humour and detachment; it's no surprise then that Hollenbeck calls this “semi-serious music by musicians who only take themselves semi-seriously”.” - Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes, Nov. 2005, www.touchingextremes.org