Joe Hertenstein
"Drummer, Joe Hertenstein produced, wrote the liner notes & half of the songs and led this session. Even at just 46 minutes, this disc is completely successful, ultimately crafty and often surprsing in direction throughout." Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, NY, 6/2011
Joe Hertenstein's POLYLEMMA
feat. Thomas Heberer, Joachim Badenhorst and Pascal Niggenkemper
Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, NY:
"Drummer, Joe Hertenstein produced, wrote the liner notes & half of the songs and led this session. Even at just 46 minutes, this disc is completely successful, ultimately crafty and often surprsing in direction throughout. "
"Drummer, Joe Hertenstein produced, wrote the liner notes & half of the songs and led this session. On the title track, the trumpet and clarinet swerve around one another in sublime circles while the bass & drums create circular rhythms underneath. The restraint and skeletal playing give the trumpet and bass clarinet a chance to breathe and slowly weave their lines with subtle results. "Sugar's Dilemma" has a playful, dreamy vibe until Joachim Badenhorst takes a thoughtful, slow-burning bass clarinet solo and Thomas Heberer plays mysterious long notes in the distance. On "Stratigraphy" Joachim plays those talkative notes on his bass clarinet while the trumpet and bowed bass of Pascal Niggenkemper shadow one another closely. The quartet provide different strategies on each piece, while different combinations of players and assorted techniques bring things together into a connected series. Hertenstein's superb drums spin quickly and effortlessly on "One Ocean at a Time", providing the glue that holds this complex, ever-shifting piece together. Even at just 46 minutes, this disc is completely successful, ultimately crafty and often surprsing in direction throughout." Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, NY, 6/2011