The Laurence Hobgood Trio feat. The Solar String Quartet

t e s s e t e r r a: CD Release Concert

With t e s s e t e r r a, Laurence Hobgood combines his love of jazz trio and composing for string quartet with nuanced and exquisite arrangements of the “expanded songbook” – repertoire ranging from Cole Porter to Sting, Hoagie Carmichael to Paul McCartney, Chopin to Crosby Stills & Nash.  t e s s e t e r r a  embodies the signature style of composing and arranging Hobgood has become known for: imaginatively innovative yet melodically memorable. This concert features The Laurence Hobgood Trio: Laurence Hobgood, piano, Jared Schonig, drums, and Matthew Clohesy, bass – with The Solar String Quartet- Leonor Falcon and Tomoko Omura, violin; Jen Herman, viola; and Brian Sanders, cello.

Click here for Video

t e s s e t e r r a is Laurence’s new program of standards re-woven for jazz trio and string quartet. Titles are as diverse as Wichita Lineman, Blackbird, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, We Shall Overcome — even a Chopin Waltz (Opus 64 no. 2 in C#Minor), all vividly arranged in a style we’re calling “third stream nouveau” — the sound of the string quartet brings a definite classical element to this project, but the central idea is for the trio to shine as a fully functioning jazz trio, weaving improvisatory exploration within the fabric of thoroughly composed orchestrations.

The words “weaving” and “fabric” are quite intentional; the word t e s s e t e r r a  is Laurence’s invention, and translates roughly as “the sonic fabric of the world.” It’s an amalgam of tessitura and terra. Terra is latin for ‘earth’; ‘tessitura’ means ‘texture’ in Italian but musically refers to the most favorable portion of a voice’s (or instrument’s) overall range. So perhaps an even more accurate definition would be “the world’s most pleasing musical textures.”

Laurence Hobgood’s new album is grounded in a deep and rich musicality… like nothing I’ve heard in decades. It is at different times surprising, thought-provoking, nuanced, and always exquisite. What do Debussy, Ravel, Miles Davis and Johnny Cash have in common? They were all superb crafters of melody, harmony and rhythm who decided, as Hobgood does here, to explore texture-driven music, elevating timbre and orchestration to equal standing with their better known musical accomplices. Hobgood is continually pulling rabbits out of hats, getting me to rethink and re-feel songs I’ve heard thousands of times, shining a light on hidden structure and interplays I had never noticed before. From meter shifts to harmonic innovation and textural elegance, tesseterra should be on every playlist for years to come.
~DR. DANIEL J. LEVITIN, MUSICOLOGIST, PRODUCER, AND AUTHOR OF THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC