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All Music Guide:
In East Coast jazz circles, Philadelphia native Ari Hoenig has a reputation for being a flexible, broad-minded jazz drummer who is open to a variety of musical situations -- some very straight-ahead and accessible, some of them more cerebral and abstract. Along the way, Hoenig has crossed paths with improvisers ranging from Philly soul-jazz organist/pianist Shirley Scott to saxman Joe Lovano to guitarist Mike Stern. Hoenig has played with the very straight-ahead and traditional Bucky Pizzarelli, but he has also been employed by the left-of-center Dave Liebman (who is no stranger to jazz's avant-garde). Hoenig can be a skillful accompanist/sideman; in the late '90s, he demonstrated that on two albums by Philly vocalist Lou Lanza (Corner Pocket and Shadows & Echoes). But Hoenig has been equally skillful in a bandleader/composer role.
Born in Philly in 1973, Hoenig began studying musical instruments as a kid -- and his interest in different types of music was encouraged by his parents (both of them musicians). Hoenig started out on acoustic piano and violin, but by the age of 12 he had made the drums his primary focus. Hoenig (who has also studied classical and rock drumming) began playing jazz when he was in high school, and the improviser wasn't old enough to vote when he started sitting in at Ortliebs Jazz Haus, a Philly jazz club where the regulars have included pianist Sam Dockery (who was one of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the '50s), tenor saxophonist Robert "Bootsie" Barnes, and drummers Mickey Roker and Bobby Durham. After high school, Hoenig moved to the Lone Star State and attended the University of North Texas, where he studied with drummer Ed Soph. But Hoenig wanted to be closer to New York City, and after three years at the University of North Texas, he returned to the East Coast and continued his education at William Patterson College in northern New Jersey.
Being so close to the Big Apple resulted in a lot of work in that city, where the late '90s and early 2000s found him being employed in groups led by pianists Jean-Michel Pilc and Kenny Werner. The early 2000s also found Hoenig leading his own quartet, which employed Pilc on piano, Jacques Schwarz-Bart on tenor sax, and Matt Penman on bass. Hoenig's first album, Time Travels, was released on the 1K label in 2000, and his sophomore outing, The Life of a Day, came out on Ah HA Records in 2002. But The Painter, which was recorded in 2003 and released on the Smalls label in early 2004, marked the first time that Hoenig (who turned 30 in 2003) used his working quartet on one of his albums; he was unaccompanied on his two previous releases.
Wikipedia:
Ari Hoenig (born on November 13, 1973 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), is a jazz drummer, composer and educator known for his unusual and intense approach to drumming emphasizing complex rhythms. He currently leads a group that makes regular appearances in New York jazz clubs including the 55 Bar, the Blue Note and especially Smalls in NYC's Greenwich Village where his band has been performing on monday nights for several years in addition to performing worldwide. Joining Ari on many recordings is the noted French pianist Jean-Michel Pilc who performs on two of the drummers solo albums the live "The Painter"& the studio recording "Inversations".
Rather than playing the traditional role of timekeeper, Ari is known to elevate his drumming to a very central and visible part of the performance, as many drummers such as Elvin Jones, Tony Williams and Jack DeJohnette did before him. He's also known for playing with the intensity usually associated with the playing of rock & metal drummers as well as combining rhythms from many styles of music with the more traditional jazz drumming style to make a highly personalized & expressive voice at the drums.
History [edit]
Hoenig was born to a vocalist father and violinist mother, exposed to classical and other music at an early age. He played both piano and violin, then rock and metal drums as a teen before settling into jazz. He attended Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts in summer 1990. He attended the University of North Texas College of Music for three years and was a member of the highly-regarded One O'Clock Lab Band before relocating to New York. After the move to New York he began playing with fellow Philadelphia native Shirley Scott.
In 2005 Hoenig appeared with his group at the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival alongside such jazz luminaries as Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Chucho Valdés.
Since 2005 Ari has appeared with many of jazz's finest up & coming guitarists such as Jonathan Kreisberg who's a member of Ari's Punk Bop Band and Israeli transplant Gilad Hekselman
Collaborations [edit]
Other artists Hoenig has recorded with include Mike Stern, Kenny Werner, Richard Bona, Dave Liebman, Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, Tigran Hamasyan, Ethan Iverson, Mark Turner, Fred Hersch, and the Jazz Mandolin Project. According to his website, Ari has also played on stage with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Joshua Redman, Pat Martino, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheney, Mike Stern, Jonathan Kreisberg and Gilad Hekselman.
Reviews [edit]
Hoenig's playing has been cited by diverse publications worldwide including the Los Angeles Times, Jazz Times, and The Jerusalem Post.
Drummerworld Feature on Ari HoenigAll About Jazz Feature on Ari HoenigPhiladelphia CityPaper article on Ari Hoenig2006 article from Down Beat2005 article from the Los Angeles Times2005 review from The Village Voice