Ari Hoenig – Punkbop: Live At Smalls (2010) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Ari Hoenig – Punkbop: Live At Smalls (2010)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:12:54 minutes | 1,40 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SmallsLIVE

Smalls Jazz Club in New York was founded in 1994, and co-owner Spike Wilner has been documenting every note blown in the place since he got involved four years ago. Stars including the Bad Plus’s Ethan Iverson, saxophonists Chris Potter, Mark Turner and Jon Irabagon, and pianist Fred Hersch, are among those who have given Wilner permission to record, archive, and live-stream their performances at smallsjazzclub.com. Ari Hoenig’s Punk Bop session is one of the picks of the bunch, even if its name suggests rawness more than it reflects its subtle character. Hoenig is famous for tuning his drums to play melodies, but his punchy band (including UK-born saxophonist Will Vinson and the fluent, somewhat Methenyish guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg) doesn’t dwell on that, instead concentrating on being a musical and swinging contemporary ensemble. Vinson is a nimble bebop player, and the opening Birdless is a subtle, mixed-tempo update of the style, while Green Spleen is an exploration of growling long notes, crunching guitar chords and throbbing bass-drum hits that gets obliquely funky, and Ska has something of a Bobby Previte busyness. The Smalls output will be worth keeping an ear open to. –John Fordham, Guardian

Drummer Ari Hoenig’s regular Monday night gig at Smalls has enabled him to explore different ensembles, among them a trio with pianist Jean-Michel Pilc and bassist Francois Moutin, a quartet and other projects. Featured on this live recording is Punk Bop, with Jonathan Kreisberg on guitar, Will Vinson on alto saxophone, Tigran Hamasyan on piano and Danton Boller on bass. The set consists of material recorded on five of Hoenig’s previous albums, all penned by the leader. As implied by the group’s moniker, the music is steeped in the bebop tradition while adventurously pushing the envelope. Hoenig’s choice of musicians facilitates this vision; highly attentive and communicative, they are the perfect conduits for his complex, polyrhythmic writing, imbued with great depth and emotion.

The set opens with “Birdless,” off The Painter (2004), a vivid postbop vehicle for Hoenig’s muscular, melodic drumming, his exploratory bent and his penchant for inside/outside tension. The funk-rooted, rhythmically erratic “Green Spleen” (Bert’s Playground, 2008) is marked by the richness of Vinson’s horn, Kreisberg’s guitar effects and Hamasyan’s nod to the music of his Armenian roots. Enigmatic and ethereal, “Dark News” (Inversations, 2007) slows things down, eerie guitar enhancing its haunting melody. The closing “Ska,” first documented on a DVD recorded at Fat Cat, oscillates between punkish freneticism and dub-heavy beats.
Hoenig’s performances reveal his expressiveness, the physicality and explosiveness of his playing, and the constant interaction he maintains with his bandmates. And though this live recording lacks a visual component, these qualities are more than tangible. –Sharonne Cohen, JazzTimes

In Punk Bop, the composer and drummer, Ari Hoenig, has put together a young and talented quintet, the members of which share his vision and musical values. On the eighth of February, 2010, the group’s unbridled artistic expression was caught live at the legendary Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village.

The resulting disc contains six of Hoenig’s compositions that are complex and textured to reflect his original ideas, yet loose enough to allow for the improvisations of the other musicians to enrich the performance. Hoenig himself, in addition to composing and leading the quintet through the labyrinthine paths of his music, is also a very melodic drummer, utilizing Elvin Jones-like energetic polyphonies during his solos yet maintaining Tony Williams’ gentle genre bending and fluidity.

Joining him is altoist Will Vinson, whose unique sound is a combination of the rich tones of Art Pepper, the acerbic bite of Jackie McLean and the free form of the criminally undersung Joe Harriott. Vinson’s bluesy solo on “Ska” is a modernist tone poem that weaves itself around the dark and circular rhythms of the others, particularly the Don Pullen-like piano of Tigran Hamasian, who on “Green Spleen” quotes seamlessly and freely from folk tunes of his native Armenia.

The track also features a spirited duet between Hoenig’s drums and Danton Boller’s bass that is a modern and modal interplay reminiscent of similar ones between Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison. Boller also provides the foundation for both Hoenig’s hyperrhythmic and atonal improvisation and Hamasian Latin-tinged piano on “Rapscallion Cattle,” which also features darkly hued and richly flavored bluesy guitar work by Jonathan Kreisberg. Kreisberg also takes a Grant Green-like solo on the bopish “Birdless” and a more electric and eclectic one on the ballad “Dark News.”

Throughout this adventurous yet quite accessible set, Hoenig, much like a writer/director of a dramatic work, not only creates the substrate, but also moves the action along, allowing the others enough freedom of expression to make the album intriguing but still stay within the guidelines of his opus. This is a quintet to watch out for, both individually and as a group. –Hyrayr Attarian, Chicago Jazz

Tracklist:
01. Ari Hoenig – Birdless (12:24)
02. Ari Hoenig – Remembering (09:57)
03. Ari Hoenig – Rapscallion Cattle (12:29)
04. Ari Hoenig – Green Spleen (15:20)
05. Ari Hoenig – Dark News (09:51)
06. Ari Hoenig – Ska (12:50)

Personnel:
Ari Hoenig – drums
Will Vinson – alto
Jonathan Kreisberg – guitar
Tigran Hamasyan – piano
Danton Boller – bass

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