One of the most prominent contemporary jazz groups working today enchanted the Cat in the Cream on Oct. 12, the restless Thursday eve before fall break. The Claudia Quintet, led by world-renowned drummer and composer John Hollenbeck, presented a musical and social attitude that blended flawlessly with Oberlin’s atmosphere. The group’s intense soloing and Hollenbeck’s highly creative compositions spoke true originality to the packed house.

The night started with a flicker of the lights and a quick silence. The audience was edgy with anticipation. The quintet finally appeared and Hollenbeck kicked the show off with a forceful Afro-Cuban pattern on his drum kit.

Tenor saxophonist Chris Speed (who doubled on clarinet) grabbed instant attention with his warm and powerful sound, mesmerizing anyone who paid him close attention.

Failing to notice The Claudia Quintet’s instrumentation is impossible; their line-up gives way to foreign yet impressively comfortable musical coloring. Bassist Drew Gress sustained an amazing sound the entire night, reaching every listener with his vibrations. Vibraphonist Matt Moran was key to the group’s sound, adding the perfect amount of chordal texture. The fifth and most novel musician was Ted Reichman, an impressive accordionist who truly rounded out the group’s original sound.

Continuing the show with his fabulously dry personality, Hollenbeck connected well with the hip crowd, asking the Cat staff to save him one of their famous cookies.

The second tune performed, “Two Teachers,” was from the group’s most recent album Semi-Formal (2005, Cuneiform), written for Bob Brookmeyer’s quartet East and dedicated to him and tabla guru Pandit Sharada Sahai.

Hollenbeck studied with Sahai for a summer, giving him the opportunity to learn formats and ideas behind Indian music. Part of the tune was based on a traditional tintal (a melody commonly used for tabla solos) and dedicated to Sahai. After the show, Hollenbeck went on to explain the other part of the composition.

“I took that melody and just elongated it, put different things under it, and that’s the whole beginning part of the tune. That part is dedicated to Bob Brookmeyer and actually written for him. Myself and Drew [Gress] and Brad Shepik are in a quartet with Bob, and I wrote that piece for that quartet.”

Although many critics declassify Hollenbeck’s music and shy away from placing it within any specific genres, they keep relating it to more contemporary classical composers like Morton Feldman and minimalist Steve Reich.

The group’s third piece, titled “August 5th, 2006,” was the best example of this relationship. Named for the date of his wedding (so that he could remember his anniversary in years to come, he added wryly) and sounding like chapel bells, Hollenbeck agreed with this relationship to a certain extent.

“The wedding piece that I wrote has a part that, to me, is in a minimalist style.”

Despite the agreement among reviewers that his music is heavily influenced by minimalism, Hollenbeck maintained his stance of originality.

“A guy like Steve Reich loves African music, he loves Balinese music, he loves minor chords; me too. I would never try to copy him, but since we like the same stuff, inevitably sometimes it might sound like that, not because I’m trying to copy him but because I dig the same things he digs.”

If one thing is for certain, it is that Hollenbeck’s music is always deeply personal. For nearly every composition he explained his intentions and inspirations, which in turn helped bring the meaning of the music to an even higher level. Although each musician is firmly established in various New York circles of music, their musicality blended spectacularly to create a passionate aura of spirituality.

The angriest piece of the evening was what Hollenbeck described as a “revenge piece.” The story behind the composition was how he remembered seeing a school bus drive by while all the children pointed and laughed at him. After an interesting vibraphone introduction by Moran, Hollenbeck laid down a “trashy” funk beat that was joined by a screaming and hair-raising solo by Speed on his tenor.

Hollenbeck mentioned how he does not often write music that angry since his life is filled with enough negative energy.  Nonetheless, the piece showed that the range of attitude the quintet could handle was impressively wide.

Perhaps the most remarkable element the quintet displayed was their seamless transitioning between various types of sections and feels. “Most of the time it’s written in the music,” Hollenbeck described, “but other times they [the band] also just know that that’s what I’m really going for most of the time…I’m really looking for something that’s organic, and a lot of times when things are cut and they resolve and they end and then go on, that to me sounds very inorganic. It sounds like I can hear the person sitting in a room writing this piece. I don’t want it to sound like that, I want it to tell a story and just go so people don’t even think about ‘section’ or ‘improvise’ or ‘written.’”

The Claudia Quintet hails from New York City and has found success touring the country. From the release of their first record, The Claudia Quintet (2002, CRI Blueshift), to their second, I, Claudia (2004, Cuneiform), the group’s positive momentum among the music critics began to take off. I, Claudia saw 4-star reviews in both the All Music Guide and Downbeat and was met with glowing descriptions from around the globe.

With the release of Semi-Formal, The Claudia Quintet has been firmly established as one of the top contemporary music ensembles that can be heard today, and their performances should not be missed given the chance.