The Claudia Quintet

“Royal Toast”

(Cuneiform Records 307)

I first discovered the music of The Claudia Quintet at the 2007 Cheltenham Jazz Festival before waiting another three years to see them play live again in a performance at this year’s Harmonic Festival in Birmingham. The Harmonic performance revealed the band to be as brilliant as ever and is reviewed elsewhere on this site.

Claudia was formed in 2001 by New York based drummer and composer John Hollenbeck. The core line up which has existed throughout the life of the band comprises of some of the New York Downtown Scene’s finest players with Drew Gress on double bass, Chris Speed on reeds, Matt Moran on vibes and most remarkably Ted Reichman on accordion. This line up has recorded a series of fine albums in the distinctive Claudia house style among them"The Claudia Quintet” (Blueshift Records 2001) followed by “I Claudia”(2004), “Semi Formal(2005)” and “For (2007)“all released on Cuneiform . “Royal Toast” adds a guest performer for the first time on record in the shape of pianist Gary Versace who has worked extensively with Hollenbeck in both the latter’s Large Ensemble and Refuge Trio.

The Claudia sound is unique, the material, mainly by Hollenbeck, is through composed but allows plenty of scope for improvisation particularly in live performance. Although less visceral and spontaneous than much of the music coming from the New York scene Claudia’s work has its own special appeal. Hollenbeck’s tunes range from the deceptively simple to the mind bogglingly complex, a continually shifting pattern of melody and rhythm that has drawn comparisons with the work of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Although rooted in jazz the band’s unique blend of instruments gives the group a sound all it’s own. Reichman’s accordion work is particularly distinctive adding elements of klezmer and tango to an already exotic mix. He’s one of the most innovative improvisers on what still remains an unusual instrument in this field of music.

I like to think of Hollenbeck as the equivalent of the UK’s Seb Rochford. Both are phenomenally talented drummers but it’s in their compositional skills that their real genius lies. Both head groups with a distinctive, probably unique, instrumental line up and both a share a quirky, almost child like view of their world. The music of both Claudia Quintet and Polar Bear can communicate joy and sadness, a sly sense of humour or whimsicality and can be wilfully simple and na?ve or else fiendishly difficult. 

“Royal Toast” is a worthy successor to Claudia’s past glories. Hollenbeck has punctuated his lengthier compositions with snippets of improvisation in which the members of the expanded group spar with themselves courtesy of the wonders of overdubbing. Although the concept is Hollenbeck’s the individuals concerned get the compositional credits for tracks such as “Ted Versus Ted”, “Drew With Drew”, “Matt On Matt” and “Chris And Chris”. Even the titles are representative of Hollenbeck’s humour and love of word play. None of these pieces lasts longer than a minute with the exception of Versace’s “Ideal Intro” at one minute sixteen seconds. Interestingly the “solo duets” were pieced together by Hollenbeck from existing material as opposed to the musicians reacting consciously to their own solos.

Of the more formal compositions the opening “Crane Merit”  is lush and atmospheric, proceeding at almost funereal pace but nonetheless possessed of a certain majesty. There are few jazz solos per se in Claudia’s music and with the whole of the newly created sextet involved this is a fine example of the group’s ensemble playing, each musician serving the beauty of the composition.

A brief drum intro, presumably Hollenbeck’s contribution to the “solo duets” ushers in “Keramag”, a far more lively piece with darting melodic lines, subtly funky polyrhythmic drumming and dazzling interplay between vibes, piano and accordion. There are solo interludes,notably from Gress on double bass, Moran on vibes and Reichman on accordion, but in this close knit working band once more it’s the ensemble playing and group interaction that is key. “Keramag” is tricky and complex but the results are dazzling and exhilarating, all guided by Hollenbeck’s remarkable musical vision.

“Paterna Terra” grows out of almost free percussion and saxophone musings before gradually metamorphosing into the full Claudia sound. Speed features heavily here and this piece is perhaps the closest that Claudia get to the kind of jazz he and Gress regularly play as members of other groups such as that of alto saxophonist Tim Berne.

As he explained at the Harmonic performance Hollenbeck has developed an almost unhealthy obsession with toilets and plumbing. Hence the title of the quirky and sometimes jerky “Armitage Shanks” another piece of delightfully complex and exhilarating ensemble playing with Reichman to the fore.

“Sphinx” evokes Middle Eastern and African influences, infectious rhythms providing the springboard for Speed to demonstrate his abilities on clarinet with Gress also featuring extensively.

“Zurn” incorporates Morse Code rhythms reminiscent of the Peter Hammill song “Traintime” but of course with Claudia being Claudia there’s far more to it than that. Particularly impressive is the interplay between Moran and Reichman and the delicately shimmering finale which seems to have a life independent of the rest of the song.

The title track is the group at its most knotty and polyrhythmic, the complexity leavened by the jazz sensibility of Speed’s tenor. Versace’s piano plays a major part in the dense forest of rhythms. Like so much of Claudia’s music this is frequently baffling but ultimately uplifting.

Versace introduces “Ideal Standard”, a title that alludes both to a “standard” in the jazz sense but also, if I’m not mistaken, to Hollenbeck’s lavatorial obsession. And I thought it was only us Brits who were fixated with toilets. The tune itself is the closest the enigmatic Claudia get to a jazz ballad, a shimmering, slowly unfolding rubato piece with more excellent interplay between Moran, Versace and Reichman and a haunting passage from Speed on tenor, his long plaintive lines hardly a jazz solo in the conventional sense but profoundly moving for all that.

“American Standard” also contains a saxophone solo from Speed, probably his most orthodox jazz playing on the record, but the piece also offers more of Claudia’s idiosyncratic rhythmic patterns and the highly distinctive playing of the excellent Reichman. 

The album closes with “For Frederick Franck”, Hollenbeck’s dedication to the Dutch born artist and author who died aged 97 in 2006. Franck, designer of a sculpture park in upper New York State shared something of Hollenbeck’s artistic philosophy. The tune is stately and elegiac, it’s quiet beauty a fitting memorial. In a neat touch of symmetry the piece also mirrors the mood of the opening “Crane Merit.”

“Royal Toast” is as good as anything Claudia have ever done. Versace integrates perfectly into the ensemble sound and it’s this unique group identity that sets Claudia apart from their peers. Their blend of jazz, minimalism, chamber music and even experimental rock is quite unlike anything else I’ve ever heard. Cuneiform, with it’s commitment to experimental music from all fields seems very much the natural home for them. Hollenbeck leads unobtrusively from behind the drums and although the group is very much more than the sum of its parts it is his vision that makes it all possible.

Claudia’s music is not the easiest to describe even for a fan such as myself, but for all it’s complexity it is also charming and readily accessible. To a degree their albums are interchangeable and I could safely recommend any of them but for newcomers “Royal Toast” would be a good place to start, you can always work your backwards from there. In concert the group are simply awesome and seeing this music performed live greatly enhances the listener’s understanding of just what they’re all about. All five (or six even) are brilliant individual musicians but seeing them pool their talents to create something unique is quite an experience.

There are those that would dismiss them as twee but I’d urge most adventurous listeners to give Claudia a go. British readers who admire the work of Seb Rochford are particularly urged to check out Claudia, if you like Polar Bear the chances are you’ll like this.

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