Jim Hobbs Fully Celebrated Orchestra - Peace & Pig Grease (SILKHEART RECORDS 2018)

"Jim Hobbs' Fully Celebrated Orchestra is a piano-less trio that plays very much in the tradition of the early Ornette Coleman groups. While bassist Timo Shanko and drummer Django Carranza are alert and stimulating in support of the leader, the focus throughout is on Jim Hobbs' colorful alto. This is an impressive outing of fiery and explorative yet often melodic music that is easily recommended." 

Scott Yanow, Cadence, December 1996 

"You can compare us to the Renaissance guys of the avant garde, the kind of attitude that Ornette Coleman had in his music. You can mix that with a punk-rock aesthetic because we don't want to have to play the jazz mantra all the time" 

Jim Hobbs 

Even by jazz's sometimes bizarre standards, alto saxophonist/ composer Jim Hobbs is an anomaly. A twenty something Fort Wayne, Indiana born renegade; Hobbs is the spokesman/leader of the Fully Celebrated Orchestra, a collective ensemble which is actually a trio comprised of bassist Timo Shanko and the slash and burn drums of Django Carranza. The eclecticism of his influences is what sets him and his group apart - Duke Ellington Suites, heavy metal, Don Cherry and Willie Nelson's song stylings ("the way he can twist melodies that are common"). This seemingly disparate mix and match of...  more

1. Theme 02:35

2. Freedom, Right Now! 07:10

3. Peace & Pig Grease 03:35

4. Cry for Help 05:04

5. Imposter Pot Belly 04:17

6. Witch's Witch 02:48

7. The Celebration 04:35

8. Wot Not 07:26

9. Pulaski Skyway 02:21

10. Chandini 04:42

11. (Up Against a Wall) With a Chicken Wing 05:41

12. B. Now C. 02:52

13. A Posse 03:04

14. Ice on Fire 10:08

Jim Hobbs alto saxophone

Timo Shanko bass

Django Carranza drums

Jim Hobbs Trio - Babadita (SILKHEART RECORDS 2018)

"Jim Hobbs plays with a sharp and peppery saxophone sound and has a tight trio who take a firm grip on the music, directions are clearly indicated from the outset. Theirs is not a music which suffers from hesitation. The thrust and power is there and so is the skill and knowledge. Vehemence and hot-headedness exist side by side with ritual incantation and rhyme. The childlike aspect is united with the youthful fervor." 

Thomas Millroth, Gränslöst, February 1995

"He's absorbed Ornette's style of playing without copying it. He's really taking harmolodics in a new direction," says Bern Nix (former Coleman Prime Time guitarist) about alto saxist Jim Hobbs of the Fully Celebrated Orchestra, a collective ensemble with bassist Timo Shanko and drummer Django Carranza (appearing on their debut Silkheart CD Babadita).

What initially led Hobbs to listen to Coleman's early trio recordings was his fascination with trumpeter Don Cherry. "I liked the way he would smear a bebop line," said Hobbs. After hearing Cherry on Coleman's landmark This Is Our Music, Hobbs immersed himself in Cherry's efforts, listening to Orient, Where's Brooklyn? and Symphony for the Improvisers. From these recordings, he went on to...  more

1. Off Blue Shirt 05:51

2. A Possé 04:01

3. Balderama-Lama-Ding-Dong 03:42

4. Chandini 04:36

5. B. Now C. 03:12

6. Devil Sews Expensive Clothes 05:06

7. Quit Stallin' 05:19

8. Pulaski Skyway 02:07

9. The Moon, a Star and a Little Red Car 07:11

10. The Ol' Pick and Roll 05:41

11. V 02:09

12. (Up Against a Wall) With a Chicken Wing 04:58

13. Babadita 07:48

14. Travel Song 04:46

15. Bad Medicine 04:30

Jim Hobbs alto saxophone

Timo Shanko bass

Django Carranza drums