Reviews
Publisher's Pick
—Michael Ricci, AllAboutJazz.com
...People I Like is serious fun...Bennink’s approval
is audible in his exuberant playing. He’s in buoyant form
throughout, in his element with a group who are accomplished, imaginative
and comitted to enjoyment. Recommended without reservation as an
antidote to grey and rainy days.
—Julian Cowley, The Wire
Han Bennink turns in some of his more appealing performances in
years on People I Like, which speaks well of the idiosyncratically
configured Blueprint Project’s often effusive and allusive
music. Bennink’s dada-informed subversions scuff the pungent,
well-versed compositions of guitarist Eric Hofbauer, pianist Tyson
Rogers and saxophonist/clarinetist Jared Sims in appealing ways.
As soloists, the trio is even more compatible with Bennink, as salty
as they are smart.
—Bill Shoemaker, DownBeat
The music they make together is nothing short of glorious. The
program of group originals is understandably well tailored to the
trio's distinctive group conception, something they’ve had
the chance to hone over a period of time, and Bennink brings his
characteristic work to bear in a way that’s nothing short of
a celebration of life...music that is a working definition of just
how uplifting human creativity can be. It’s what those end-of-year
polls were invented for.
—Nic Jones, AllAboutJazz.com
...an accomplished set from an ensemble of four individuals who’ve
mastered the art of simultaneously playing both against and with
one another.
—Robert Shore, Jazzwise
Bennink has a signature style that is very unsubtle yet delicate.
With all of the drummer’s theatrics, it is easy to miss the
outstanding musicianship of the trio. Besides the original music
provided, the very quick-wit response they have to the forcefulness
of Bennink is impressive. By the time they settle into "Nu Noon
At Yoshi's," the
ending piece here, they have exhausted all possibilities.
—Mark Corroto, AllAboutJazz.com
It isn’t everyday, and certainly is unexpected, when a trio
of young, up-and-coming musicians still experimenting and searching
for a defined sound collaborate with one of the most proven, established
masters of his instrument; but People I Like is exactly
that, combining the forces of a fresh sax/guitar/piano trio from
New England with Dutch drummer Han Bennink, one of the vanguard
figures in the birth of free jazz in Europe. The music presented
on People I Like is profound because it takes an "out"
approach to an earlier style of jazz, as opposed to pushing modern
creative music further and further in the same direction.
—Mike Szajewski, WNUR-FM (Evanston, IL)
As you might expect, hyperkinetic drummer Bennink gives the music
a great drive and unpredictable rhythmic twists. Jared Sims percolates
merrily on saxes & clarinet, Eric Hofbauer plucks and punches
on guitar and Tyson Roberts gently warps the view through his piano.
Great fun!
—Forrest Dylan Bryant, KZSU-FM (Stanford,
CA)
With this new release, they take a giant step forward by linking
up with the anarchic, at times over powering but very swinging,
Mr. Bennink...this group’s conception has become so finely
tuned that they can easily accommodate a player as strong as Bennink.
And these pieces are open enough to give Bennink free reign to be
himself...it’s become one of my favorite releases of the year.
—Robert Iannapollo, Cadence
Perpetually in motion with ruffs, taps, flams, paradiddles or bounces,
the veteran drummer’s precise and swinging pulse enlivens
the nine band member-penned originals. Not adverse to good-timey
melodies, driven by Bennink’s sand dancer-like brush strokes
and unison guitar-saxophone licks, the band is made up of jazzmen
as knowledgeable as Bennink.
—Ken Waxman, Whole Note
Boston's oddball reeds/guitar/piano trio Blueprint Project
write pieces with clear, well-defined rhythmic contours, albeit
knotty ones. They also have a distinctive way of weaving around
each other, avoiding duplication of parts, making the most of skeletal
instrumentation. Han thrives in such rhythmically-charged environments,
apt to reinforce a groove (the samba-lypso "Captain Salvy Sets
Sail"), come up with a new one (hear the polyrhythmic churn
midway through "The Holly Stomp"), or energize more open
material, like "Nu Moon at Yoshi's."
—Kevin Whitehead, eMusic.com
The fourth release from The Blueprint Project proves that free
jazz is anything but formless. Modern to the core, this quartet
plays consistently friendly melodies propelled by the unmistakable
kinetic thrash of master Danish drummer Han Bennink...Bennink plays
with such mastery of jazz pulse that whether soloing or playing
time, it all becomes one.
—Ken Micallef, Modern Drummer
People I Like is well-composed, well-performed, well-packaged—it
is an all-around impeccable jazz record. Tunes like "Herbie
Nichols" and "Jac-Mac Talkin'" seem to be written
specifically for Bennink. From the playful joie de vivre of "The
Holly Stomp" to the eerie meditation of "Chillfreetmeistrodemus",
it is clear that the trio was truly inspired by its guest drummer.
—Ivana Ng, AllAboutJazz-New York
Top 10 of 2007 list
—Ed Hazell, Village Voice 2007 Jazz Poll
Top 10 of 2007 list
—Duck Baker, Coda
Top 10 of 2007 list
—Peter MacDonald, CFMH-FM
Top 10 of 2007 list
—Robert Iannapollo, AllAboutJazz.com
Top 10 of 2007 list
—Nic Jones, AllAboutJazz.com
12 Overlooked Albums of 2007 list
—eMusic.com staff
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