Tad Dickens,
The Roanoke Times/Roanoke.com
Review of Hip Bones show at Awful Arthers Towers, Roanoke VA, July, 2010
Within its first couple of numbers, Hip Bones showed what it is all about: angular melodies, time-twisting rhythmic figures and fluent solos, often over hard-grooving loops.
Saxophonist Gary Schwantes solo over the chorus of set-opener Riptide was sly and adventurous. Underneath Schwantes work, bassist Shannon Hoover filled out the space in between with chords that evoked thoughts of Jaco Pastorius and Oteil Burbridge. Hoover ran through his own snaking, tasteful solo with a loop of the bottom-end bass pattern accompanying him. Drummer Robin Tolleson handled the mid-tempo jazz/funk number with solid understatement, dynamics and syncopation.
Schwantes provided hip compositions to go along with his skillful playing. In addition to the thick, laid-back grooves of Scram and Country Chicken, with their Mike Stern-style melody lines, the band made good use of cover material such as NirvanaÕs ÔHeart-Shaped Box and The PoliceÕs ÔWalking On The Moon. Schwantes split time among his saxophones and a flute. He's definitely a good sax man, but I could listen to him play flute all night.
The band moved into a slow, contemporary swing called The Core. It was reminiscent of the standard ÔSummertime,Õ but here, the living was greasy. Tolleson was deep in the pocket as the groove shifted into double-time. Schwantes nailed the outside-the-box lines, and again, Hoover soloed over a loop he had set up during the tune. This is a trio, but it plays like a four- or five-piece act.
Other highlights included covers of Cream's Sunshine of Your Love and a mash-up of John Coltrane's Afro Blue and Bob Marley's Get Up, Stand Up.
Skin-smackers who have been reading Modern Drummer magazine will recognize Tolleson's byline. Over the years he has interviewed great drummers including Max Roach, Dennis Chambers and Ginger Baker. Turns out, his drumming is as solid and tasteful as his writing. But saxophonists and bass players anyone interested in quality jazz, funk and world music, for that matter can find plenty of interest in Hip Bones.
The Roanoke Times/Roanoke.com
Review of Hip Bones show at Awful Arthers Towers, Roanoke VA, July, 2010
Within its first couple of numbers, Hip Bones showed what it is all about: angular melodies, time-twisting rhythmic figures and fluent solos, often over hard-grooving loops.
Saxophonist Gary Schwantes solo over the chorus of set-opener Riptide was sly and adventurous. Underneath Schwantes work, bassist Shannon Hoover filled out the space in between with chords that evoked thoughts of Jaco Pastorius and Oteil Burbridge. Hoover ran through his own snaking, tasteful solo with a loop of the bottom-end bass pattern accompanying him. Drummer Robin Tolleson handled the mid-tempo jazz/funk number with solid understatement, dynamics and syncopation.
Schwantes provided hip compositions to go along with his skillful playing. In addition to the thick, laid-back grooves of Scram and Country Chicken, with their Mike Stern-style melody lines, the band made good use of cover material such as NirvanaÕs ÔHeart-Shaped Box and The PoliceÕs ÔWalking On The Moon. Schwantes split time among his saxophones and a flute. He's definitely a good sax man, but I could listen to him play flute all night.
The band moved into a slow, contemporary swing called The Core. It was reminiscent of the standard ÔSummertime,Õ but here, the living was greasy. Tolleson was deep in the pocket as the groove shifted into double-time. Schwantes nailed the outside-the-box lines, and again, Hoover soloed over a loop he had set up during the tune. This is a trio, but it plays like a four- or five-piece act.
Other highlights included covers of Cream's Sunshine of Your Love and a mash-up of John Coltrane's Afro Blue and Bob Marley's Get Up, Stand Up.
Skin-smackers who have been reading Modern Drummer magazine will recognize Tolleson's byline. Over the years he has interviewed great drummers including Max Roach, Dennis Chambers and Ginger Baker. Turns out, his drumming is as solid and tasteful as his writing. But saxophonists and bass players anyone interested in quality jazz, funk and world music, for that matter can find plenty of interest in Hip Bones.
Connect Savannah
October 31, 2009
Noteworthy
By Bill DeYoung | [email protected]
HIP BONES
Seriously funky jazz from San Francisco, this all-instrumental trio is fronted by hard-bopping saxman Gary Schwantes, who also plays bamboo flutes and keyboard samples, and is rounded out by North Carolina bassist Duston Hofsess (he plays the group's East Coast dates; they use a different guy out west) and drummer Robin Tolleson, who also has a jam band called Big Block Dodge. This band is all about deeply textured grooves and tight improve, on material from the likes of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. They also have a fair amount of cerebral original material, which can be tastily sampled on the Web site. Listen & learn: www.hipbones.net. At 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9 at Jazz'd Tapas Bar, 52 Barnard St.
October 31, 2009
Noteworthy
By Bill DeYoung | [email protected]
HIP BONES
Seriously funky jazz from San Francisco, this all-instrumental trio is fronted by hard-bopping saxman Gary Schwantes, who also plays bamboo flutes and keyboard samples, and is rounded out by North Carolina bassist Duston Hofsess (he plays the group's East Coast dates; they use a different guy out west) and drummer Robin Tolleson, who also has a jam band called Big Block Dodge. This band is all about deeply textured grooves and tight improve, on material from the likes of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. They also have a fair amount of cerebral original material, which can be tastily sampled on the Web site. Listen & learn: www.hipbones.net. At 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9 at Jazz'd Tapas Bar, 52 Barnard St.
Modern Drummer
Review of Hip Bones 4 (03.07-vol 31, number 3)
Grooving, sax-fronted jazz group Hip Bones are consistently interesting yet not overly slick. Drummer Robin Tolleson's engaging delivery makes you raise an eyebrow with his over-the-bar phrasing on the album opener "Scram" and the perfectly placed duple rolls in the half-time shuffle of the Police's "walking on the Moon" He knows how to set up others too, catching a tambourine here or a splash there lending the right support for Gary Schwantes' cool sax solos. The excellent recording seals the deal on a satisfying listen.-Ilya Stemkovsky
Creative Loafing says,
"Fusing instrumental jazz with funk and rock, the Hip Bones serve up a steady diet of original jazz groove along wiht tasty takes on familiar tunes... a sure bet to please fans who like music that's willing to take chances on exploring unchartered territory." Charleston Post and Courier claims, "Hip Bones' music is multi-dimensional," and the Independent Weekly adds, "You haven't lived 'til you've heard what they do with the funk R&B classic, 'For The Love Of Money,' or their medley of Sting's 'Driven To Tears' and Hendrix's 'Third Stone from the Sun.'"
Grooving, sax-fronted jazz group Hip Bones are consistently interesting yet not overly slick. Drummer Robin Tolleson's engaging delivery makes you raise an eyebrow with his over-the-bar phrasing on the album opener "Scram" and the perfectly placed duple rolls in the half-time shuffle of the Police's "walking on the Moon" He knows how to set up others too, catching a tambourine here or a splash there lending the right support for Gary Schwantes' cool sax solos. The excellent recording seals the deal on a satisfying listen.-Ilya Stemkovsky
Creative Loafing says,
"Fusing instrumental jazz with funk and rock, the Hip Bones serve up a steady diet of original jazz groove along wiht tasty takes on familiar tunes... a sure bet to please fans who like music that's willing to take chances on exploring unchartered territory." Charleston Post and Courier claims, "Hip Bones' music is multi-dimensional," and the Independent Weekly adds, "You haven't lived 'til you've heard what they do with the funk R&B classic, 'For The Love Of Money,' or their medley of Sting's 'Driven To Tears' and Hendrix's 'Third Stone from the Sun.'"