Music
Press
from August '07 issue:
"CRUNK/SURF OR FUNKY JAZZ?
You’d think that a band with Hari Honzu’s improvisational skills would be eager to align with the
jamband scene. Uh-uh. Although the all-instrumental (for now) quartet displays skills most jambands would envy, saxist Jonathan Rossman says, “Once there’s a scene to join, you’ve missed the boat. It’s either happening or it ain’t.” It’s been happening for Hari Honzu since Rossman—who takes most of the lead solos—and drummer David Christian met bassist Eivind Opsvik, who then brought in guitarist Aaron “Jag” Jennings. The band’s hypnotic, cascading excursions owe to a litany of funky-jazzy (or crunk/surf, as their MySpace page describes it) influences ranging from free-jazz titan Ornette Coleman (“a mentor to me,” says Rossman) to Talking Heads, and they’ve already killed at New York clubs like Nublu and Zebulon, as well as the Guggenheim Museum. The band plans to release a new EP of original music every couple of months. As for its curious name, Christian explains: “One night when Jag lost his cool he threatened to pull out his Hari Honzu... and there it was.” And there it is. www.myspace.com/harihonzu "
http://www.relix.com/Features/Bands_On_the_Verge/HARI_HONZU_Brooklyn,_NY_200707232420.html - Relix Magazine
"The sound has a sheer, weightless quality... whether you understand it as jazz or as a kind of instrumental post-rock it leaves more permanent traces"
http://www.eivindopsvik.com/press/nytimes_review.html - New York Times
“Norwegian bassist Eivind Opsvik made the most imaginative album trilogy of 2005”
http://www.eivindopsvik.com/press/jazztimes2.html - JazzTimes
Discography
Hari Honzu self-titled EP - released summer '07
limited edition hand printed physical release
selections streaming at www.myspace.com/harihonzu
Photos
Bio
Hari Honzu plays instrumental music that moves people's bodies.
Jonathan Rossman, mentored by Ornette Coleman, plays alto saxophone with a deep emotional and melodic sense that is more comparable to a lead singer than a soloist.
Jennings, Opsvik & Christian play together as one unit with a strong sense of texture and dynamic tension & release.
The songs are not free-form jams, but rather are strong, concise statements that replace technical display with solid songwriting.
Hari Honzu is a new band, but they have played around NYC at venues such as NuBlu, Zebulon, Pianos & the Guggenheim Museum and collectively the members have toured the United States, Canada, South America, the U.K. and all of Europe supporting groups such as Blonde Redhead, Pinback and TV on the Radio.
Links
