Formed by the twice Grammy-nominated drummer/composer John Hollenbeck, who The Village Voice called, "superb, technically ingenious… passionate and serious, but also playful and funny…" The Claudia Quintet explores the edge without alienating the mainstream, proving that genre-defying music can be for everyone and they are excited to be playing at Cuneifest's Jazz Day (November 20, 2011 at An Die Musik) , Cuneiform Records' two-day avant garde music festival label showcase in Baltimore. They are an astonishing band with a huge range of emotional depth and range with appeal far beyond strictly 'jazz' listeners. The Claudia Quintet has amazed audiences from Alabama to the Amazon. Their unique sound has inspired dancing hippie girls at a New Mexico noise festival, the avant-garde cognoscenti in the concert halls of Vienna and Sao Paolo, and a generation of young musicians worldwide.
Their music marries jazz, new music, post-rock – but no laundry list of influences is quite sufficient to describe their iconoclastic sound. Suffice it to say, you can feel secure bringing your hipster nephew and your math professor along to a gig, and everyone will go home happy. The Claudia Quintet's music demonstrates that "Innovative jazz does not have to be harsh, angry, loud, shrill or grating; it can be delicate, witty, ethereal and radiantly lyric…"(Chicago Tribune).
Their music marries jazz, new music, post-rock – but no laundry list of influences is quite sufficient to describe their iconoclastic sound. Suffice it to say, you can feel secure bringing your hipster nephew and your math professor along to a gig, and everyone will go home happy. The Claudia Quintet's music demonstrates that "Innovative jazz does not have to be harsh, angry, loud, shrill or grating; it can be delicate, witty, ethereal and radiantly lyric…"(Chicago Tribune).
