Uploaded April 2018 | Updated September 2026, 51 minutes ago
John Hollenbeck leads l'Orchestre national du jazz Montreal through an original, and highly unconventional concert. Part performance art, part theatre improv, Hollenbeck's composition reimagines the role of improvisation. Considered by the composer as a "spatial experiment", the project was noticeably free of most musical and theatrical boundaries.
Hollenbeck, an American drummer and educator, leads the orchestra members (and guest vocalist Theo Bleckmann) to extend their improvisation beyond notes and instruments, to the full and expressive movement of the entire body. Eclectic gestures, peculiar stage positioning, whistling, and yelling all play a role in the avant garde piece, that was debuted at the 2017 Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Winner of the Prix Opus - Concert de l’année, Jazz - du CQM - Conseil québécois de la musique, the performance was fully embraced by the members of the orchestra - many of whom were experimenting well outside of their comfort zone - and by the adoring audience, who called the orchestra back for an encore.
John Hollenbeck leads l'Orchestre national du jazz Montreal through an original, and highly unconventional concert. Part performance art, part theatre improv, Hollenbeck's composition reimagines the role of improvisation. Considered by the composer as a "spatial experiment", the project was noticeably free of most musical and theatrical boundaries.
Hollenbeck, an American drummer and educator, leads the orchestra members (and guest vocalist Theo Bleckmann) to extend their improvisation beyond notes and instruments, to the full and expressive movement of the entire body. Eclectic gestures, peculiar stage positioning, whistling, and yelling all play a role in the avant garde piece, that was debuted at the 2017 Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Winner of the Prix Opus - Concert de l’année, Jazz - du CQM - Conseil québécois de la musique, the performance was fully embraced by the members of the orchestra - many of whom were experimenting well outside of their comfort zone - and by the adoring audience, who called the orchestra back for an encore.
