John Hollenbeck’s GEORGE

John Hollenbeck’s GEORGE: “Letters to George”

(CA, US)

European premiere

Drummer and composer John Hollenbeck – who presents his “The Drum Major Instinct”, built around the words of Martin Luther King, on Friday night – directs his interests in multiple directions, always forming new projects to explore different terrain. Naturally, most of his projects ignore supposed genre boundaries, such as the way his most prolific group, The Claudia Quintet, brought mathematical complexity to the most opaque and tuneful chamber jazz. In 2023 he launched what might be his most accessible project, and a jacked-up quartet called GEORGE that layers silky and seductive R&B flourishes over typically elaborate rhythmic schemes. Sometimes there’s a slick fusion vibe, while elsewhere there’s an absurdist pop bent, as on a drama-laden account of the Nancy Sinatra hit “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” that was a highlight of the group’s 2023 debut album “Letters to George”.

The combo includes the remarkable reedist Anna Webber – a longtime collaborator with the drummer in her Simple Trio –, a virtuosic improviser and a composer of serious rigour, a quality beautifully countered by the pop-world keyboard playing of Toronto-based Colombian Chiquita Magic and more recent recruit singer-keyboardist Sarah Rossy, who’s replaced co-founder Aurora Nealand. Jazz-pop? Fusion? New music? Yes.