Stickmen 4 1000, pleeze…
The clue is…
MASTERBEATER.
Uh… WHO is — Ari Hoenig?
Yes! Who IS Ari Hoenig? First of all, he’s still alive. Spinal Tap obviously never got a hold of him.
Second of all, he played with the great SCOTT, Shirley — organist extraordinaire, who was so, and not just because she was a she.
He plays percussion like each finely hewn tone is the harmonic equivalent of the human voice — but, then — whatinstrument isn’t imitating a vox box? (What?…but — that’s a 8mm film about Fugazi.) 1 and a 1/2 octaves is not an uncommon equivalent of the range capability of the human larynx. Apparently it is also the range of Hoenig’s gear in major/ minor metre —elbows included. C, C, folks! Chromatically speaking, of course. Yes, he’s been known to play by elbow (beats playing a rimshot by ear).
This man could run for mayor in any town in NIgeria, for he has the makings of a true “onigangan” — loosely translated — a genuine masterbeater. DRMS OOON FYRE!!
How many drummers do you know with the ability to actually respond to rhythm beyond whacking a kit with some sticks? Mr. Hoenig dances his phrasing. It is an ironic truth that most can’t — or, won’t — bust a move. This guy is a tap tap tapper… a totally untapped resource of time keeping —- WHOA! Trompe L’Oreille! Bird’s ANTHROPOLOGY never sounded so primal. I can feel Ogun. Space and time exacted from a succession of notes in conversation with dat saxy-phonic- PI -ano combo. His time signatures are scribbled improvisations instead of dead weight metric markers. WOW! Go-ing play-sez! ARI–VA–DARE–CHI, Hoenig! I like this guy’s PUNK BOP spunk. I MEAN YOU really captured a cagey Monk, MAN on The Painter CD (OH, MY GAWD!) with mind readers Jean-Michel Pilc (piano), Matt Penman (bass), and Jacques Schwarz-Bart (tenor sax) adding suspense to the conversation.
Thank you for gettin’ real and mixin’ your metric metaphors ARI (props to Elvin and DeJohnette, I say). M-pathy has a place in the DIE-UH-tah-NIK-NAC-paddy-whack percussion playground in these here parts per measure…YEAH! He’s a drummer, and drummers blow up. I hope this one BLOWS UP really BIG — with a BANG! and drags jazz to the forefront of POPular music kicking and beating. If it makes ’em lean to one side you have hit the right nerve. The NERVE of blending Verve with Hardcore-Pertish-Crimsonish-Metal-Acid writhe-ums in pitch-ers as captivating as you paint with your brushes, Mr. Hoening.
Oh, yeah. Blah, blah, blah, Metheny… blah, blah, Stern, Redman, blah, blah, Martino, blah, Thielemans, uh…Stern…I said that already…Mulligan, Bojan Z…blah, blah, Joe Lovano…Hancock, Marsalis — OH, C’MON… do I have to do this? The guy is a MASTERBEATER! What more do I have to say? Hoenig parlays the drum kit into a universal interfacing tool… one size fits all forms. Music isn’t so much script as it is speaking in tongues and — either way — you’re gonna get it.
The worst part? Once ARI is in the air, I’m probably going to have to start transposing keys for drummers.
Cock a cochlear and check him out:
INVERSATIONS (2007)
TRACK LISTINGS
01. Anthropology
02. Dark News
03. Rapscallion Cattle
04. WB Blues; Farewell
05. Falling In Love With Love
06. Without Within
07. Newfound Innocence
08. This Little Light of Mine
Ari Hoenig: drums, vocals
Jean Michel Pilc: piano
Johannes Weidenmueller: bass
Will Vinson: alto saxophone
Jacques Schwarz-Bart: tenor saxophone