"John Hollenbeck is a composer of music uncategorizable beyond the fact of being always identifiably his. A conceptualist able to translate the traditions of jazz and new music into a fresh, eclectic, forward-looking language of his own invention, intellectually rewarding yet ever accessibly vibrant. A drummer and percussionist possessed of a playful versatility and a virtuosic wit. Most of all, a musical thinker - whether putting pen to paper or conjuring spontaneous sound - allergic to repetition, forever seeking to surprise himself and his audiences. [...]

Hollenbeck received degrees in percussion and jazz composition from the Eastman School of Music before moving to New York City in the early 1990s. He was profoundly shaped by the mentorship of two hugely influential artists: trombonist/arranger/composer Bob Brookmeyer and composer/choreographer Meredith Monk. His relationship with Brookmeyer reached back to the age of 14, when he attended the SUNY Binghamton Summer Jazz Workshop, and continued at Eastman, through NEA-funded composition study, and finally on the bandstand with Brookmeyer's New Art Orchestra and in the studio with Brookmeyer and trumpet great Kenny Wheeler. For Monk, Hollenbeck composed and performed the percussion scores for five of her works: "Magic Frequencies," "Mercy," "The Impermanence Project," "Songs of Ascension" and "On Behalf of Nature."

Hollenbeck's awards and honors include four Grammy nominations; the 2012 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, the 2010 ASCAP Jazz Vanguard Award and a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship; winning the Jazz Composers Alliance Composition Contest in 1995 and 2002; Meet the Composer's Grants in 1995 and 2001; and a Rising Star Arranger win in the 2012 and 2013 DownBeat Critics' Polls as well as in 2011 for the JHLE as Rising Star Big Band. John was a professor of Jazz Drums and Improvisation at the Jazz Institute Berlin from 2005-2016 and in 2015 joined the faculty of McGill University's Schulich School of Music."

"Bassplayer Bernhard Meyer is living in Berlin since 2003 and became a major part of its young, exciting jazz scene over the last years. His unique playing and his remarkable sound on the semiacoustic E-Bass makes him an outstanding voice within the Jazzworld. His band "Melt Trio" was acclaimed by the press for the recordings "Melt", "Hymnolia" & "Stroy" and nominated for the EchoJazz three times.

Bernhard Meyer completed a master program for composition with Prof John Hollenbeck at the Jazz Institut Berlin and found as a result a way to deepen his individual compositional skills.

He played in projects like John Hollenbeck`s "DrumsBassBassBassDrums", Kurt Rosenwinkel`s "E.Coli", Eric Schäfer`s "The Shredzs", Claudio Puntin`s "Sepiasonic" and is a long time band member of singer Lea W Frey.

2016 he recorded as a duo with John Hollenbeck and for Wanja Slavin`s "Lotus Eaters" alongside with Nasheet Waits.

On 2/2/2018 two new projects released their debut albums:

"Other Animal" the joint quartet by the Meyer brothers with Jim Black & Wanja Slavin.

And "Murmuration", the first band as sole leader, a quintet feat.

Claudio Puntin (Clarinette), Julius Heise (Vibraphon, Perc), Peter Meyer (Git) & Andi Haberl (Drums)."