“Hobgood is continually pulling rabbits out of hats, getting me to re-think and re-feel songs I’ve heard thousands of times, shining a light on hidden structure and interplays I had never noticed before,” according to Dr Daniel J. Levitin who wrote the million selling This is Your Brain on Music.
The latest “rabbits” on pianist composer Laurence Hobgood’s upcoming jazz trio + strings album Tesseterra, more than four years in the making according to issuing label Ubuntu, include ‘Wichita Lineman’, ‘Blackbird’, and ‘We Shall Overcome’ among the instantly familiar repertoire he tackles.
The recording features pianist composer Hobgood famed for his work with Kurt Elling and Charlie Haden alongside bassist Matthew Clohesy and drummer Jared Schonig + the ETHEL string quartet.
In an video issued to promote the project Hobgood says the process involved: “Writing for jazz trio and string quartet where we take songs that everybody knows, iconic songs and rework them in thoroughly fleshed out and imaginative ways that are intended to delight and suspend time if possible.” Release date, no exact date has been specified yet, is February/March.
