Internationally renowned composer and bandleader Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra nominated for 2020 GRAMMY® Award (Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album)

Described by Downbeat Magazine as “one of the finest modern composer/arrangers of our time,” Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra:  Hiding Out (ZOHO Music, 2019) was nominated for a 2020 GRAMMY® Award (Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album).  This double CD features two multi-movement suites inspired by the natural world:  "Hiding Out," which was commissioned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art (funded by the Pew Foundation), and "Flow," which was commissioned by the Westchester Jazz Orchestra (funded by a NYSCA Individual Artists Grant).

The Gotham Jazz Orchestra brings together a star-studded roster of New York City musicians.  Featured soloists include saxophonists Jon Gordon, Jason Rigby, Billy Drewes, and Adam Kolker, trumpet players Marvin Stamm and Scott Wendholt, guitarists Steve Cardenas and Jesse Lewis, with Mike Holober on piano and Fender Rhodes electric piano.

PRESS

"With the release of this long-anticipated, epic work, Holober has brought a profound artistic vision to bear on today’s jazz scene and confirmed his standing as one of the finest modern composer/arrangers of our time, in the tradition of Gil Evans, Bob Brookmeyer and Jim McNeely." — Ed Enright, (Editor's Picks, November 2019) DownBeat Magazine 

“With this 2-CD release Mike Holober leaps into the front rank of the most accomplished and inventive composers in jazz.” — Bob Bernotas, Just Jazz 

“Gotham Jazz Orchestra’s fine new album…Mike Holober’s woven composition unfolds across various movements, kicking up dust as it goes along; toward the end, after a snaky, scorching guitar solo from Jesse Lewis, the whole band piles in together, and the rambunctious energy of a street parade — or just a lively city block, on any day of the year — spills forth.” – Giovanni Russonello, New York Times Playlist, August 12, 2019 writing about the composition “Jumble” 

“A sure handed modern master…” — Chris Spector, Midwest Record 

“Mike Holober has a daring compositional voice which is on full display in this release.” — Pierre Giroux, Audiophile Audition 

“Presenting a series of commissioned works—two suites bookended by two stand-alone pieces—Holober is in his element. Channeling nature's bounty into varied dimensions and directions, he manages to meld two of his loves—the great outdoors and sound itself—into enthralling functions and forms…As with Holober's other albums and works for large ensembles, the material on Hiding Out is both serious and engrossing. Who says jazz can't fire the intellect and the imagination?” — Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz 

“Mike Holober's Gotham Jazz Orchestra's latest release Hiding Out is a two-disc set of awe-inspiring compositions… a full 93 minutes of powerful orchestral magic, full of emotion and splendor at every turn, with adventurous and complex arrangements, informed by classics of Gil Evans, Duke Ellington and many others. Perhaps as a listener the only thing better than absorbing this music off of the discs at hand would be experiencing it performed live.” — Peter Thelen, Expose 

"Articulate composer and astute arranger, the rhythmically adroit Holober must think in four dimensions to deliver the deeply satisfying development that is a hallmark of every track on the album…Holober’s development captures your attention from moment to moment and carries you to liberating resolutions. The finely tuned orchestra delivers on his every command, and the soloists shine again and again." — Mel Minter, Musically Speaking 

“Hiding Out is an adventurous, risk-taking, thoroughly well-crafted production that showcases the virtuosity of jazz composer, band leader and pianist Mike Holober. Joining him on this 2 CD-set is his New York based Gotham Jazz Orchestra, in three brilliant, large-scaled, and original big band compositions, and his arrangement of a classic A.C. Jobim tune” — Kabir Seghal, producer 

“The album ‘Hiding Out’ contains many moments of beauty, of melodies that sing and harmonies that ring, with solos that have power and grace. Give this music the time it deserves to enter your mind (and heart) – its rewards are plentiful. Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra have made one splendid musical adventure!” — Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest 

"Mike Holober's writing is in the expansive and ambitious lineage of Gil Evans, Bob Brookmeyer and Maria Schneider: music of varying moods that merges the thrust of jazz with atmospheric colors closer to the classical world. It can teem with energy or settle into a state of quiet, contemplative beauty." — Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz 

“The stream of sounds that emerge from this taut machine pulse and probe like a unified aqueous body in motion. Holober guides his group with precision, but like an impressionistic painter, he allows for the band to have its own organic aspiration, its own distinct vitality.”  — Ralph A. Miriello, Notes on Jazz 

"A superlative big-band session that may have been ten years in the making but was easily worth the wait." — Jack Bowers, All About Jazz 

“Progressive modern jazz, brilliant soloists and great charts...” 
— Christopher Burnett, JazzArtistryNow 

“Mike Holober has done the near impossible – assembled an A-list group (The Gotham City Orchestra) to perform 11 fresh, original, large ensemble jazz compositions in a way that displays each musician’s gifts within the framework of ego-less, challenging arrangements. Holober is at a point in his musical maturity and creativity that this contemporary take on the traditional big band jazz format is all about the music itself.”  -- Leslie Mitchell-Clarke, The Whole Note 

“Mike Holober is one of many leading the charge to shift what a big band can sound like. His arranging on 'Hiding Out' will leave you breathless.” – Michael Ambrosino, 33third.org Grace Notes

Hiding Out press release Braithwaite & Katz Communications 82.4 KB

Sample tracks

“The Shaping of Hiding Out – ”ISJAC Artist’s Blog 
Mike’s recent post on the ISJAC Artist’s blog examines some of the ideas that shaped his approach to writing the music for Hiding Out: 
https://isjac.org/artist-blog/mike-holober-the-shaping-of-hiding-out 

“Cultivating Aural Imagination to Elevate the Writer's Craft” – Downbeat Magazine (January 2020) 
Mike also has a feature in the January 2020 issue of Downbeat Magazine, where he provides a masterclass in jazz orchestra composing and arranging.  

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