With the Rochester International Jazz Festival concluding a successful third year, a 24-hour jazz radio station (WGMC 90.1 FM), and world-class jazz educators at area colleges, few can doubt Rochester's prowess when it comes to jazz. But if further proof is needed, consider this fact: over the past few months four excellent jazz CDs have been released by local musicians. Here's a look at the bounty:

Interconnection, a new album by Bob Sneider and Paul Hofmann, features a more traditional coupling: guitar and piano. There are many precedents, including Undercurrent, a classic album by Jim Hall and Evans.

Sneider teaches at Eastman with Hofmann in the school's Community Education division. Hofmann has released 10 albums as a leader on his MHR record label, including a duet with vocalist Kevin Mahogany. Sneider, who has toured with Chuck Mangione, has released two previous albums as a leader. After playing together for over 15 years, Sneider and Hofmann seem to have no trouble balancing their instruments.

"Our communication, coupled with our understanding of each other's playing, is very high," Hofmann says. "There is a good deal of 'flipping' we do, where I'll play a walking bass line under Bob's improvisation, followed by his doing the same for me."

Listeners will find beautiful arrangements of standards like Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Desafinado," along with some excellent originals. Hofmann's 19-minute "Jazz Suite for Guitar and Piano" is a tour de force; Sneider's "Rumblin'" is irresistible.

"Our styles are different but similar," Sneider says. "We blend together really well. I think the way the music came together really shows how interconnected the whole thing was."

— Ron Netsky
August, 2004 City Newspaper