DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE: The Hotbox
DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE: The Hotbox
"Principally a mix of choral blends, instrumental gestures and spoken (and sung) word, some of the recording's most sublime moments occur in the eddies-the closing minutes of "Heyoke," for example-outside the main torrent of Hollenbeck's compositional ideas." -- James Hale
"Hollenbeck's music flaunts aspirations, whether they are appreciated or not. So, I congratulate him on the thorny intrigue of these concert pieces. It's the architecture of a coolly iconoclastic Potemkin village, however. Inside, there's no central heating." -- John McDonough
"The moment of emotional clarity here is the title track: a tribute to the late trumpeter Laurie Frink. But Hollenbeck's arranging prowess is even more apparent on "Elf," a feature for Ben Kono's soprano saxophone that paints its way past its Strayhorn inspiration." -- Giovanni Russonello.