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- Holly Hofmann Quartet
- Holly Hofmann and Mike Wofford
- Holly Hofmann Quartet with Strings: Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim
- Holly Hofmann and Bill Cunliffe
- Frank Potenza Organ Trio with special guest Holly Hofmann
Holly Hofmann Quartet
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Holly and pianist Mike Wofford currently perform and tour with a quartet that has included such artists as Ray Brown, Peter Washington, Jeff Hamilton and Victor Lewis. The varied repertoire of original material and inventive arrangements of standards features both flute and alto flute in unexpected ways, from full-on high energy mainstream jazz to balladic and Latin lyricism. As one critic has written, “Hofmann
works to give the flute frontline parity with horns….Dizzy said her ideas
were like those of a trumpeter.” (Kirk Silsbee, LA City Beat)
Review
CD Reviews from the July/August 2006 issue
JazzTimes Magazine
HOLLY HOFMANN
Minor Miracle (Capri)
Holly Hofmann possesses one of the most exquisite flute tones in jazz. She also demonstrates a sure technique, inventive ideas, a secure sense of swing and a broad emotional range. Put her with some of the best practitioners of their own instruments—husband Mike Wofford on piano, Peter Washington on bass and Victor Lewis on drums—interpreting together an attractive collection of standards and originals, and the result has to be a winner. And a winner Minor Miracle is, with all hands displaying a consummate professionalism enhanced by that special quality that only players of their caliber can bring to a performance.
Jobim’s lovely “Samba Do Avião,” a flute and piano duet, fittingly displays Hofmann’s beautiful tone and both improvisers’ highly melodic phrasing. Similar examples include Francis Himes’ Brazilian “Minha” and Cole Porter’s “Everything I Love.” On the other end of the emotional spectrum, “CRS-Craft,” a bluesy, 16-bar groover by the late bassist Ray Brown, finds the flutist digging in and swinging hard. Other up-tunes include Matt Dennis’ “Will You Still Be Mine,” Ellington and Strayhorn’s “Tonk” and Strayhorn’s “Johnny Come Lately” (fitted with an Afro-Cuban beat). The jaunty “Minor Miracle,” the couple’s own imaginative stretched blues (à la Bobby Timmons’ “This Here”) resides somewhere in between.
-David Franklinn
Holly Hofmann and Mike Wofford
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Flutist Holly Hofmann and pianist Mike Wofford have a long history of performing together in various performance settings. One of their more recent collaborations is as a duo, which has been recorded on Capri as Live at Athenaeum Jazz, Vol.2.
With its spirit and unusual approaches to the jazz repertoire as well as their own original material, the duo has received acclaim around the country wherever they have appeared. Of their CD, Cadence Magazine wrote, “This is an astounding example of how two instruments can conjure up the richness of a complete orchestra by employing exceptional harmonics, talent and creativity.” (Dee Dee McNeil)
Review
allmusicguide...jazz
A number of jazz spouses have worked together on record dates over the decades, though it is still a relatively infrequent occurrence. But flutist Holly Hofmann, a perennial critic's favorite, found a true soul mate in pianist Mike Wofford, as they demonstrate throughout this enjoyable duo concert recorded at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in southern California. On this occasion, Hofmann makes her recorded debut playing alto flute on three selections, a reflective "More Than You Know," a risk-taking romp through two infrequently performed Thelonious Monk works ("Introspection" and "Eronel"), and a driving take of the standard "If I Should Lose You" that has a humorous air. Hofmann contributed two originals: "Free Day" is a haunting melody inspired by a fragment from American classical composer Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, while "Presentimiento" is a dark, sensuous bossa nova. Wofford wrote the quirky "Floof" for his wife, a demanding chart that is full of sudden twists and turns. Pete Malinverni's "Twelve," full of the playful dissonance and unexpected chords heard in the music of the late Herbie Nichols, is negotiated flawlessly by both Hofmann and Wofford. This intimate concert was recorded acoustically without amplification on the flutes, giving the listener an unforgettable experience similar to those who were able to attend this memorable evening of jazz.
by Ken Dryden
Holly Hofmann Quartet with Strings: Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim
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Flutist Holly Hofmann and pianist Mike Wofford have now added another configuration to their jazz duo and quartet touring schedule. This chamber jazz project is “A Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim,” featuring Holly and Mike with bassist Christoph Luty, drummer Jeff Hamilton and Latin percussionist Luis Conte, with a twelve to sixteen-piece string orchestra. The arrangements have been written for this ensemble by notable composer/arrangers Mike Wofford, Bill Cunliffe and Chris Hughes. Some of Jobim’s most beloved works have been included, like Girl
from Ipanema and No More Blues, as well as his lesser known compositions, such as Song
of the Jet, Luiza, and Agua de Beber. The combination of Holly’s beautiful tone with jazz rhythm section over the lush orchestral accompaniment is particularly suited to the beauty of Jobim’s compositions. All About Jazz writes, “This project presents Holly and Mike at their lyrical best, filled with vibrant in-the-moment creativity and sensuous Brazilian ambience.”
Thomas Burns
President and CEO
Capri Records, Ltd.
Holly Hofmann and Bill Cunliffe
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Flutist Holly Hofmann and pianist Bill Cunliffe have performed worldwide together. Their formation as a duo was a happy accident; while playing as a quartet at the Telluride Jazz Festival ten years ago, they decided to play a duo tune. Cunliffe recalled, “It was really amazing...Holly and I just seemed to read each others’ minds. I would play a substitute chord change, or change the rhythm, and she was there, right where I was.” After feeling the musical connection and the enthusiastic audience response, they both decided to make the duo a permanent part of their musical lives.
Initially a psychology major at Duke University, Cunliffe fell under the spell of the great Mary Lou Williams during his senior year, subsequently enrolled in the jazz program at the Eastman School of Music. After touring with Buddy Rich and Frank Sinatra, he performed with Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Phil Woods, Art Blakey and James Moody. He is a Thelonious Monk Competition winner and has a number of solo CDs to his credit, including several with his critically praised sextet.
Hofmann is recognized as one of the top flutists in jazz. Although she started playing jazz with her father at five, she began formal classical training with the great Maurice Sharp a few years later and continued to receive degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and University of Northern Colorado. She has numerous CDs as a leader and has performed with Ray Brown, Kenny Barron, Cedar Walton, Houston Person, and Mike Wofford, among many others.
The duo’s two releases on Azica Records were widely acclaimed in most of the major jazz publications, and they have performed in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. They have done a variety of other projects together, including a session featuring Cunliffe on the B3 organ, in a quintet with the great trumpeter Bobby Shew, and a live recording at Birdland with the great Ray Brown on bass, and stalwart New York drummer Victor Lewis.
Hofmann and Cunliffe are celebrating a brand new duo release this fall, "Three's Company" on the Capri Records label. The recording features special guests Regina Carter, Alvester Garnett, Ken Peplowski and Terell Stafford.
Jazz Times says, “the two are classically trained, with chops a-go-go; both have long jazz resumes, they’re perfectly at ease in both idioms; their playing is so tight they seem to share a single musical brain.”
Frank Potenza Organ Trio with special guest Holly Hofmann
Holly has added another quartet configuration to her touring options. She appears as a special guest soloist with guitarist and vocalist Frank Potenza’s organ trio. Potenza is a Capri recording artist who was a member of the Gene Harris Quartet for over three years and has also played with organists Jimmy Smith, “Brother” Jack McDuff, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bill Heid, and many others. His current Capri Records Ltd. release is entitled Old, New, Borrowed, & Blue and features Holly, organist Joe Bagg, and drummer Steve Barnes. Holly and Frank have performed together in various settings for many years. Frank was a featured soloist on her 1999 Azica release entitled Flutopia, also an organ quartet project. She returns the favor and revisits this bluesy format, showing once again that her rich tone fits perfectly within the classic funky organ trio sound.
Review Excerpts
…there’s some very stirring playing on much of this recording. And Hofmann, by the way, is something of a monster on flute.
—George Fendel, jsojazzscene.org
Potenza is a force to be reckoned with, no doubt... I thoroughly enjoyed the listen & this one will stay at the top of my play lists... I give it a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as well as the PICK of this issue for best trio jazz.
—Dick Metcalf, aka Rotcod Zzaj
