John Hollenbeck, Songs We Like a Lot
(Sunnyside Records)
A Review

Percussionist/composer/arranger John
Hollenbeck has a well-earned reputation as a musician who embraces many traditions,
mixing genres the way a chef mixes disparate ingredients. You can taste traces of the
individual ingredients in the final dish, but the overall result has a character all its own.

With Songs We Like a Lot (Sunnyside Records; available June 23), Hollenbeck applies himself to an equally disparate selection of tunes, from pop to ecclesiastical to techno, and texts, from Rumi to Kenneth Patchen. He cooks up
sumptuous arrangements and compositions that are stunningly performed by the Frankfurt
Radio Bigband, along with vocalists Theo Bleckmann and Kate McGarry and keyboardists Uri Caine and Gary Versace. Continue reading →