John Hollenbeck’s journey has been one of the most remarkable in contemporary music

Biography
John Hollenbeck’s journey has been one of the most remarkable in contemporary music. Building on a wealth of experience in jazz and world styles as well as a deep interest in contemporary composition and spiritual practice, he has forged a lyrical new musical language, as accessible and expressive as it is advanced.
 
After receiving degrees in percussion (B.M.) and jazz composition (M.M.) from the Eastman School of Music, Hollenbeck moved to New York City in the early 1990’s. He has worked with many of the world’s leading musicians in jazz (Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, the Village Vanguard Orchestra, Kenny Wheeler), world music (Pablo Ziegler), and new music (Meredith Monk). In the fall of 2005, John accepted a professorship in Drumset, Improvisation, and Composition at the Jazz Institute Berlin (Germany) where he currently teaches.
 
Hollenbeck has received numerous awards and commissions which include a National Endowment grant to study composition with Bob Brookmeyer in 1994 and a Meet the Composer’s Grant in 1995 and 2001. He won the Jazz Composers Alliance Composition Contest in 1995 and 2002 and was awarded the 2002 IAJE Gil Evans Fellowship and 2003 IAJE/ASCAP Commission.

Hollenbeck received a grant from Arts International to travel with his Claudia Quintet for performances in Brazil in the spring of 2002. In 2001, 2003, and 2007 John held a month-long residency at the Blue Mountain Center in New York, and in the fall of 2005, was a Fellow of the Wurlitzer House Foundation in Taos, New Mexico.

Hollenbeck was nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association for the following: Up and Coming Jazz Musician of the Year (2004, 2006); Jazz Composer of the Year (2006, 2007); Drummer of the Year and Large Ensemble of the Year (2007). John Hollenbeck was named as both the Rising Star Composer and the Rising Star Arranger of the Year in the 2008 & 2009 Down Beat Magazine’s Critics Poll. Down Beat magazine has in previous years recognized him as a “Rising Star” in the Composer, Jazz Artist, Arranger, Big Band, and Jazz Group (Claudia Quintet) categories. John’s first large ensemble recording, A Blessing, received a 2006 Grammy Nomination, and in 2007, John was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.

Exceptionally creative and versatile, John continues to create a passionate new musical language based on world rhythms, lyricism, and spirituality: he composed The Shape of Spirit, a piece for wind ensemble issued on the Mons label in 1998, and in 1999 composed Processional and Desiderata for wind ensemble and orator.

This composition, written for and featuring the voice and trombone of Bob Brookmeyer, was released on Challenge Records in 2001. The Cloud of Unknowing, commissioned by the Bamberg Choir in Germany was released in 2001 on the Edel Classics label along with works by J.S. Bach, Igor Stravinsky & Paul Hindemith. In 2002, John’s IAJE Gil Evans Fellowship Commission piece, A Blessing, featuring vocalist Theo Bleckmann, was performed to critical acclaim at the IAJE Conference; and in 2003 his IAJE/ASCAP Commission, Folkmoot, was premiered in Toronto, Canada.

John composed and performed the percussion score to the following Meredith Monk works: Magic Frequencies; Mercy (ECM 2002); and The Impermanence Project (ECM 2008). Hollenbeck’s chamber piece, Demütig Bitten, was commissioned by the Windsbacher Knabenchor (Germany) and released in 2004 on the Rondeau label along with works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Josquin des Prez and J.S. Bach. John’s most recent works include commissions by the Bang on a Can and the People’s Commissioning Fund; the Ethos Percussion Group funded by the Jerome Foundation; Youngstown State University; Gotham Wind Symphony; and the Painted Bride Art Center of Philadelphia.

Hollenbeck’s recording career as a leader began in the winter of 2001 with the audacious simultaneous release of three critically acclaimed CDs on CRI/Blueshift: “no images,” an ambitious composer’s statement that Gary Giddins included in his Village Voice 2001 top ten list, “Quartet Lucy,” and “The Claudia Quintet.”

His second Claudia Quintet recording, “I, Claudia”, appeared on Cuneiform in 2004, followed by “Semi-Formal” in 2005. Also in 2005, Hollenbeck debuted his Large Ensemble’s, “A Blessing” (Omnitone), which was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Jazz Big Band CD in 2006. His next large ensemble recording, “Joys and Desires” featuring Jazz Big Band Graz and Theo Bleckmann, was released by Intuition in 2006 to critical acclaim.

The Claudia Quintet received 4 star reviews from DownBeat Magazine and The Guardian (UK) for its fourth recording, “For” (Cuneiform, 2007), and was named the Rising Star Jazz Group by DownBeat’s 2008 Critic’s Poll. The collective Refuge Trio, with Theo Bleckmann and Gary Versace, released their debut recording on the Winter and Winter label in the fall of 2008.

This year John self-released a CD of chamber music, “Rainbow Jimmies”, comprised of recent commissioned pieces which feature: The Claudia Quintet, Mark Stewart, Todd Reynolds, Ethos Percussion Group, Youngstown State Percussion Ensemble and Saxophone Quartet. In addition, the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble releases its second recording, “eternal interlude” on August 18th.