All Can Work

Drummer/composer John Hollenbeck and his 20-piece Large Ensemble presents their third album, All Can Work, on New Amsterdam Records. The album follows the band's Grammy-nominated releases A Blessing (2005) and eternal interlude (2009), and pays tribute to the Large Ensemble's late trumpet player Laurie Frink, a key force in the group and the jazz community. The title is from an email exchange between Frink and Hollenbeck; the phrase epitomizes the flexible, optimistic resolve that is needed by everyone involved to create a record such as this one. After Laurie Frink's passing, Hollenbeck read all of her emails and compiled them in chronological order, finding poetry and inspiration in her words. Acclaimed vocalist Theo Bleckmann brings Frink's words to life in the lyrics of the title track "All Can Work." The composition of the piece is based on one of Frink's teaching exercises. All Can Work represents the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble's accumulation of years rehearsing, recording and performing together since it's founding in 1998 - the definitive evolution of an exceptional ensemble that has developed a relationship akin to family (some members of which Hollenbeck has been playing with since high school and college). The album also pays tribute to artists who have influenced Hollenbeck most throughout the years: Bob Brookmeyer, Kenny Wheeler, Billy Strayhorn, John Taylor, William Shakespeare, and Piet Mondria