Ari Hoenig
In East Coast jazz circles, Philadelphia native Ari Hoenig has a reputation for being a flexible, broad-minded jazz drummer who is open to a variety of musical situations -- some very straight-ahead and accessible, some of them more cerebral and abstract. Along the way, Hoenig has crossed paths with improvisers ranging from Philly soul-jazz organist/pianist Shirley Scott to saxman Joe Lovano to guitarist Mike Stern. Hoenig has played with the very straight-ahead and traditional Bucky Pizzarelli, but he has also been employed by the left-of-center Dave Liebman (who is no stranger to jazz's avant-garde). Hoenig can be a skillful accompanist/sideman; in the late '90s, he demonstrated that on two albums by Philly vocalist Lou Lanza (Corner Pocket and Shadows & Echoes). But Hoenig has been equally skillful in a bandleader/composer role.
Born in Philly in 1973, Hoenig began studying musical instruments as a kid -- and his interest in different types of music was encouraged by his parents (both of them musicians). Hoenig started out on acoustic piano and violin, but by the age of 12 he had made the drums his primary focus. Hoenig (who has also studied classical and rock drumming) began playing jazz when he was in high school, and the improviser wasn't old enough to vote when he started sitting in at Ortliebs Jazz Haus, a Philly jazz club where the regulars have included pianist Sam Dockery (who was one of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the '50s), tenor saxophonist Robert "Bootsie" Barnes, and drummers Mickey Roker and Bobby Durham. After high school, Hoenig moved to the Lone Star State and attended the University of North Texas, where he studied with drummer Ed Soph. But Hoenig wanted to be closer to New York City, and after three years at the University of North Texas, he returned to the East Coast and continued his education at William Patterson College in northern New Jersey.
Being so close to the Big Apple resulted in a lot of work in that city, where the late '90s and early 2000s found him being employed in groups led by pianists Jean-Michel Pilc and Kenny Werner. The early 2000s also found Hoenig leading his own quartet, which employed Pilc on piano, Jacques Schwarz-Bart on tenor sax, and Matt Penman on bass. Hoenig's first album, Time Travels, was released on the 1K label in 2000, and his sophomore outing, The Life of a Day, came out on Ah HA Records in 2002. But The Painter, which was recorded in 2003 and released on the Smalls label in early 2004, marked the first time that Hoenig (who turned 30 in 2003) used his working quartet on one of his albums; he was unaccompanied on his two previous releases.
© Alex Henderson /TiVo
Discography
19 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
YOU are the Song
Jean-Michel Pilc, François Moutin, Ari Hoenig
Jazz - Released by Justin Time Records Inc. on 12 May 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Enchanted
Tom Ollendorff, Ari Hoenig, Conor Chaplin
Jazz - Released by Fresh Sound New Talent on 24 Nov 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lines of oppression
Jazz - Released by naïve jazz on 14 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Treasures
Jazz - Released by Fresh Sound New Talent on 3 Jun 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lines of Oppression
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Naive - AH-HA on 18 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Equilibrium
Morten Haxholm, Jonathan Kreisberg, Ari Hoenig
Jazz - Released by Storyville on 12 Feb 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ari's Funhouse
Ben Markley Big Band, Ari Hoenig
Jazz - Released by OA2 Records on 15 Apr 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Inversations
Jazz - Released by Ari Hoenig - Dreyfus Records on 13 Nov 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bert's Playground
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Ari Hoenig - Dreyfus Records on 28 Jul 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Pauper and the Magician
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Ah Ha on 12 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live (Live)
Ari Hoenig, Gaël Horellou Quartet
Jazz - Released by Nath Records on 24 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Child's Prey
Jazz - Released by Fresh Sound New Talent on 4 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Life of a Day
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Ah Ha Records on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Satellite
Tom Ollendorff, Ari Hoenig, Conor Chaplin
Jazz - Released by Fresh Sound New Talent on 27 Oct 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Some Enchanted Evening
Tom Ollendorff, Ari Hoenig, Conor Chaplin
Jazz - Released by Fresh Sound New Talent on 10 Nov 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Goldenes Schätze
Jazz - Released by Fresh Sound New Talent on 18 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
L'Albatros (Live)
Ari Hoenig, Gaël Horellou Quartet
Jazz - Released by Nath Records on 6 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hold Up a Minute (Live)
Ari Hoenig, Gaël Horellou Quartet
Jazz - Released by Nath Records on 3 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo