# CD review: Eric Hofbauer’s Five Agents – Book of Water 2019: Video, CD covers

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/08/24/cd-review-eric-hofbauers-five-agents-book-of-water-2019-video-cd-covers/
- Published: 2019-08-24T15:35:09+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Guitarist Eric Hofbauer, a mainstay of the Boston scene, assembles a supple jazz
sextet where he teams up with bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton in the
rhythm section, providing footing for a pretty active three-horn frontline composed
of saxophonist Seth Meitch, trumpeter Jerry Sabatini and trombonist Jeb Bishop.**

The five-part suite Book of Water is the first of five books addressing the following
elements: fire, wood, earth, metal, and water. The parts last between 10 and 17 
minutes, approximately, and were given titles drawn from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem
_Water_. Hofbauer’s influences include John Tchicai and Roy Campbell, but there 
is also subtle touches of Messiaen and Ives, as well as the subversive orchestral
worlds of Anthony Braxton and Sun Ra (without the synth).

By way of illustration, “_Water Understands Civilization Well_” favors an avant-
garde jazz that still swings. The luxurious orchestration challenges any possible
preconception, leading to sections where the interplay commands. After conversational
maneuvers with plenty of rhythmic figures and oblique movements between trumpet 
and trombone, it’s time for the saxophonist and the bandleader step forward. The
former instigates rapid phrases, some of them reiterated through circular breathing,
while the latter combines quirky notes in order to bring certain atonality to the
textures. Finally, bassist and drummer shake the foundation a bit, with the horns
stepping in with timely pinpoint accuracy.

A nearly three-minute hushed guitar intro brings “_It Wells, It Chills_” to life.
For his sonic exploration of the water’s ice states and vapor, Hofbauer employs 
a dry, peculiar tone suffused with bright harmonics and delicate percussive techniques.
Entering quietly but totally dominating the melody, Sabatini shows an impressive
attack and pitch control of the trumpet and contributes gracious melodic lines. 
Effective chills occur in the darker final stage, where an unaccompanied McBride
applies the arco to keep the gravity low.

The whimsical and resilient “_It Is Not Disconcerted_” takes advantage of penetrating
saxophone lines, comfortably psychedelic guitar comping, resolute bass with a well-
defined tonal center, and restless drums, proving that water is uncontrollable and
unpredictable. Later on, is Bishop who experiences a similar type of freedom.

“_Well Used, Adorning Joy_” is marked by an unflagging 5/4 bass ostinato, which,
along with the percussive stream and the projection of the horns, vouches for stoutness.
The bandleader strikes with an unorthodox if swinging guitar improvisation filled
with magic glamor.

The last and longest piece on the album, “_Ill Used, Will Elegantly Destroy_”, is
also the strongest. It starts off with trombone and a timidly meddling arco bass,
advancing for an uptempo orchestral foray in 3/4, which shifts afterward so that
the trumpet can speak square. Meicht is the man here, delivering a nice saxophone
solo but Newton also stands out behind the drum kit after the horn players’ infiltrations.

Hofbauer reveals himself as a creative composer capable of integrating exacting 
composition and tactical flexibility with dogged determination.

It was at some point in 2017 that guitarist/composer Eric Hofbauer began weighing
the idea of a long-term, multi-ensemble project in five parts, or books. Each book,
he decided, would be comprised of five movements, or chapters.

The Chinese philosophical construct of Wu Xing, or Five Elements (also known as 
Five Agents), was not necessarily on his mind, though he’d long been an informal
student of mythology and world religions. It was hard to deny the perfect fit: five
books, one for each of the conceptual pillars of Wu Xing: wood, fire, earth, metal,
water.

The Book of Water, recorded live before a studio audience, features a freewheeling,
improvisatory aesthetic but also rigorous compositional detail. It’s the first in
a series that is above all for Hofbauer a process of inquiry. “The five agents are
not absolutes,” he explains, “but their characteristics serve as ways to navigate,
organize and explain relationships in nature, between people, in medicine, decorating,
design and music. It’s about a balance between… elements, yin and yang, embracing
chaos and order, understanding impermanence and the natural patterns and cycles 
of all things interconnected. In a way that’s exactly what I’ve spent my entire 
career trying to do: figure out who I am as an artist and deal with those ‘meaning
of life’ conundrums that humans have valiantly tackled for millennia through religion,
art, philosophy, and that have manifested for me in improvised music. The Five Agents
seemed like the logical next project, a way to interconnect all my influences and
interests while continuing to search and study.”

Instrumentation for the remaining Five Agents projects will vary widely, but The
Book of Water involves a time-honored jazz sextet lineup with three horns: tenor
saxophonist Seth Meicht, trombonist Jeb Bishop and trumpeter Jerry Sabatini. On 
a superbly polished film of the entire live performance, you can see the horn players
in action, arrayed across from Hofbauer, bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton.
The deftly played parts, the subtle cues and flowing transitions, the exertion of
the solos, the intimate focus on sound (particularly from Hofbauer’s close-miked
archtop guitar): the way these things translate on film bring the listener that 
much deeper into the moment.

**Tracks**

1. Water Understands Civilization Well 9:53
 2. It Wets, It Chills 11:38 3. It Is
Not Disconcerted 10:25 4. Well Used, Adorning Joy 9:41 5. Ill Used, Will Elegantly
Destroy 16:51

**Jerry Sabatini – trumpet **
 **Seth Meicht – tenor sax ** **Jeb Bishop – trombone****
Eric Hofbauer – guitar ** **Nate McBride – bass ** **Curt Newton – drums **

![Image result for Eric Hofbauer's Five Agents - Book of Water](https://i0.wp.com/
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![Image result for Eric Hofbauer's Five Agents - Book of Water](https://i0.wp.com/
f4.bcbits.com/img/0015869957_10.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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