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Book Of Water

Overview

Book Of Water --- 2019

From the Liner Notes: It was at some point in 2017 that guitarist/composer Eric Hofbauer began weighing the idea of a long-term, multi-ensemble project in five parts, or books. Each book, he decided, would be comprised of five movements, or chapters. The Chinese philosophical construct of Wu Xing, or Five Elements (also known as Five Agents), was not necessarily on his mind, though he’d long been an informal student of mythology and world religions. It was hard to deny the perfect fit: five books, one for each of the conceptual pillars of Wu Xing: wood, fire, earth, metal, water. The Book of Water, recorded live before a studio audience, features a freewheeling, improvisatory aesthetic but also rigorous compositional detail. It’s the first in a series that is above all for Hofbauer a process of inquiry. “The five agents are not absolutes,” he explains, “but their characteristics serve as ways to navigate, organize and explain relationships in nature, between people, in medicine, decorating, design and music. It’s about a balance between elements, yin and yang, embracing chaos and order, understanding impermanence and the natural patterns and cycles of all things interconnected. In a way that’s exactly what I’ve spent my entire career trying to do: figure out who I am as an artist and deal with those ‘meaning of life’ conundrums that humans have valiantly tackled for millennia through religion, art, philosophy, and that have manifested for me in improvised music. The Five Agents seemed like the logical next project, a way to interconnect all my influences and interests while continuing to search and study.” Instrumentation for the remaining Five Agents projects will vary widely, but The Book of Water involves a time-honored jazz sextet lineup with three horns: tenor saxophonist Seth Meicht, trombonist Jeb Bishop and trumpeter Jerry Sabatini. On a superbly polished film of the entire live performance, you can see the horn players in action, arrayed across from Hofbauer, bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton. The deftly played parts, the subtle cues and flowing transitions, the exertion of the solos, the intimate focus on sound (particularly from Hofbauer’s close-miked archtop guitar): the way these things translate on film bring the listener that much deeper into the moment. Recorded Live in front of studio audience. Video album on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/350990020