Label: Out of Your Head Records, 2024

Personnel - Christopher Hoffmann: cello, electric cello, drum programming; Frank LoCrasto: keyboards; Bill Campbell: drums;

Cellist Christopher Hoffman, demonstrating his exploratory character and broad musical vision, steps boldly into the spotlight with an intriguing recording that leans heavily on synths and drums, exuding a fiercely progressive vibe. His latest endeavor, Vision is the Identity, comprises a collection of mesmeric frameworks characterized by a curious blend of fluidity, acidity, and obscurity, providing a canvas upon which musicians navigate smoothly or inject sinister undertones within a modern fusion context. Accompanied by keyboardist Frank LoCrasto and drummer Bill Campbell on all tracks, Hoffman also welcomes special guests on select pieces.

The album opens with the electro-rock experimentalism of “Cloudbuster”, designed with a hooky motorik-inspired beat, adhesive synth patches, and incisive cello slashes, evocative of groups like Can and Faust. Similarly concise, “What Comes” serves the warped lines of saxophonist Henry Threadgill, who sinuously sweeps across a lushly dramatic 3/4 progression pollinated by the distorted clouds of guest guitarist Ryan Scott.

“Think From” unfolds with installing gravitas and an icy hip-hop backbeat overlaid by occasional rasping cello legato and creating a textural cosmic goo. “It is Done” is shrewdly executed with vocal mellotron and blaring counterpoint before transitioning into a dance-friendly groove punctuated by cello pizzicato.

Apparently, there are no main theme statements and the pieces can end abruptly. “Better & Better” is laid down with shimmering racket, featuring the tongue-in-cheek flute expressionism of Anna Webber over abrasive alternative rock and industrial electronic elements. The mood shifts on the speculative final track, “Farewell Forever”, where synth, EWI, and cello solos by LoCrasto, guest Alfredo Cólon, and Hoffman, respectively, crash into the tapestry of jazztronica-inspired synths loaded with futuristic undertones and sweaty rhythms.

While Vision is the Identity may not cater to every jazz aficionado, it undoubtedly marks an entrancing modernistic phase for Hoffman. His imaginative range of sonics establishes him as an unpredictable artist.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Cloudbuster ► 02 - What Comes ► 05 - Better & Better

Label: Out of Your Head Records, 2021

Personnel - Christopher Hoffman: cello; Bryan Carrott: vibraphone; Rashaan Carter: bass; Craig Weinrib: drums + guest David Virelles: piano.

The well-versed cellist Christopher Hoffman, known for his valuable contribution to several Henry Threadgill projects, put together a formidable ensemble to nail down his serious compositions on a more jazz-oriented effort called Asp Nimbus.

For this album, Hoffman drew inspiration from Bobby Hutcherson’s albums Oblique (1967) and Happenings (1979) as well as Threadgill’s Everybody’s Mouth a Book (2001). Thus, it’s not really a surprise to see the wonderful vibraphonist Bryan Carrott on board (he played on the latter record) as well as the exciting drummer Craig Weinrib, as he’s also a regular Threadgill pick and a member of Hoffman’s Multifariam group and Silver Cord Quintet. The bass player Rashaan Carter is the only novelty in a quartet that momentarily expands into a quintet on track 2, ”Dylan George”, with an appearance from Cuban pianist David Virelles. The pianist's creative genius incorporates in the versatile dynamics of the four through overdubbing, materializing a state-of-the-art concoction of funk, modal jazz and post-bop written for Hoffman’s late brother.

Before the cited track, the sumptuous “Discretionary” initiates this aural excursion in seven. Scratchy cello articulations reveal a lyrical eloquence, and then it’s Carrott who interlaces melody and chords through an extraordinary mallet work. The group eventually reinforces the primary 7/4 figure in a final vamp that, upon fading out, still leaves Weinrib actively engaged in the business.

If the title track plays like a vague road map, giving you a sense of immobility before jolting playfully, then the suave “Angels of Influence” provides quietly rigorous moves and inflections, yet squeezing out more assurance than fragility. And this is also by virtue of Hoffman and Carter’s soloing capabilities.

An atypical interlocking groove of bass and drums propels “Orb” as if it had no ground, but things change into a well outlined circularity on “Non-Submersible”, a somewhat relaxing call on the modern classical / chamber music hybrid genre.

Assembled with a consistent tidal pull, “The Heights of Spectacle” concludes the record with astute changing meters (from seven to four and back to seven) and aboveground unisons made of pizzicato cello and wafting vibes, revealing the breath of Hoffman’s influences and inspirations.

These inquisitive rhythmic matrixes and irresistible forward momentums derive from the constant exchange between musicians who know each other’s temperaments and intentions, intuitively.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Discretionary ► 02 - Dylan George ► 08 - The Heights of Spectacle