John Hollenbeck's New Band George To Perform At New England Conservatory This Month

GEORGE, the new band formed by genre-crossing composer/percussionist John Hollenbeck, is in residence at New England Conservatory from Monday, October 21 – Wednesday, October 23, and will perform a special afternoon residency concert and Q & A at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22. 

The event is free and open to the public and will take place in the Eben Jordan Ensemble Room, 255 St. Botolph St., Boston. The band features Hollenbeck, NEC Jazz Studies co-chair Anna Webber (flute/tenor saxophone), Sarah Rossy (vocals/keyboards), and chiquitamagic (keyboards/voice). Information at necmusic.edu.

The band's name comes from Georgios, the Greek name derived from the word georgos meaning “farmer, earthworker,” itself derived from the elements γῆ (ge) meaning “earth” and ergon meaning “work.”  George Washington Carver, George Gervin, George Clooney, George Floyd, George Wein, Georgia (the state and the country), Georgia O'Keefe, Saint George, George Saunders, George Michael, George Carlin, George Clinton, George Frideric Handel, George Orwell, Boy George, Curious George, George the magazine, etc.

Hollenbeck formed GEORGE during the Covid pandemic. He brought together three great musicians/people whom he had long loved and admired. Even though most of the members had never met each other, Hollenbeck was confident from knowing them himself that this group would immediately be tight. Their group sound is firmly planted outside any categories or labels. In March 2021, they remotely recorded a literal Proof of Concept and finally met in person in January 2022 in Montreal where they recorded Letters to George, (January 27, 2023. Out Of Your Head Records). On August 27, 2023, GEORGE released "shorts," four re-composed remixes based on improvisations from their first recording session.

Genre-crossing composer/percussionist John Hollenbeck, renowned in both the jazz and new-music worlds, has gained widespread recognition as the driving force behind the unclassifiable Claudia Quintet and the ambitious John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, groups with roots in jazz, world music, and contemporary composition. He has earned six GRAMMY nominations and has worked with many of the world's leading musicians in jazz including Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Hersch, and Tony Malaby, and is well known in new-music circles for his long-time collaboration with Meredith Monk.

Anna Webber is a flutist, saxophonist, and composer whose interests and work live in the aesthetic overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music. She was recently named a 2021 Berlin Prize Fellow and was voted the #1 Rising Star flutist in the 2020 and 2024 DownBeat Critic's Poll as well as #1 Rising Star tenor saxophonist in the 2024 poll. 

Sarah Rossy is a vocalist, keyboardist, composer and producer based in Montreal, Canada. Rossy's practice combines live electronic processing with jazz, folk, and Arabic music to create autobiographical, ethereal, and socially-outspoken soundscapes. Recent themes in Rossy's work include ancestral continua, intergenerational linkage and community healing. A debut audiovisual album, a tender autobiographical soundscape imagined through a kaleidoscopic electronic jazz lens entitled OF WHO WE HAVE BECOME is set for release in 2024.

Isis Paola Giraldo AKA chiquitamagic is a Latinx artist/producer hailing from Colombia and based in Canada. She uses microtonal synthesizers, her voice, and a drum machine to create a unique sound that can be described as futuristic electro pop with elements of EDM, hip hop, cumbia, funk, reggaeton, choirs and jazz.

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