Vermont Guitarist Draa Hobbs Releases New Album, West Quest

JGT contributor Joe Barth talks to guitarist Dara Hobbs about his new album, West Quest.

Vermont has an active music scene, and guitarist Draa Hobbs can be seen as one of the premier jazz guitarists in that scene. He has just released a new album of original compositions entitled West Quest.  I talked with Draa about this album.

JB:  Before I ask about the new West Quest album, I’d like to ask about two or three CDs you are listening to today. What is it that draws you to this music?

DH:  I’ve been revisiting some older recordings: Bobby Timmons’ piano trio CDs; the astounding Kurt Rosenwinkel CD Our Secret World; and Joe Cohn’s Shared Contemplations. While I love it all, I tend to gravitate towards straight-ahead, hard swinging music these days;  and both Bobby Timmons and Joe Cohn swing pretty damn hard. The Kurt Rosenwinkel CD is just astounding. Kurt is in a class by himself, and the big band arrangements on this recording are very deep indeed.

JB:  Talk about the title track “West Quest” and why you titled the album after this song?

 :DH:  That song is one I wrote for Annie Quest, who lives in Westminster West, Vermont. During the pandemic, she and her husband drove many miles to my house to drop off medication for me. It was an act of pure kindness, and I just wanted to do something, anything, to honor that. It just sort of evolved from there. The CD cover is a photo I took of the sunset from Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia. 

JB:  The album consists of all original songs by yourself and one you wrote with your saxophonist, Michael Zsoldos.  Did you compose this music for this particular project?

DH:  Some of these songs are quite old, others are more specific to the recording. “Oversight” was written entirely by me, but when I got together with Michael Zsoldos, he went to the piano and started messing around with it. And the more he messed with it, the more it just soared. It was actually a minor tune in Db; but Michael turned it into a major tune in E major and made a couple of changes to the melody. So, I felt it was appropriate to give him credit for his fantastic editing and the changes he made in the melody. 

I have received a lot of flak for it being in E major – especially from people who play  Bb instruments….sort of ironic since Michael is a saxophonist.

JB:  Bassist Steve Bulmer and drummer Tim Gilmore play superbly.  What do you appreciate most about these two musicians as your rhythm section?

DH:  I’ve played with both Steve and Tim for many years. Steve can pretty much play anything. He’s a highly trained musician who made an incredible arrangement of another tune that was very classical in nature, and played tuba on it. Unfortunately, it isn’t included on this CD for reasons too long to go into here. Tim Gilmore is a great drummer who can swing with great energy at any volume, from a soft whisper to screaming loudly, which is quite rare. What I have always loved about Tim’s playing is that you always know where he is in a song during his solos – he plays the song.

JB:  Talk about your musical relationship with vibraphonist Rich Greenblatt.

DH:  I’m trying to remember when and where we first played together. Rich is both a great vibraphonist and a great drummer. We’ve played on countless gigs from the Lilypad in Boston to concerts out here in southern Vermont. For the CD, I wanted the colors that the vibraphone can produce. Rich is a professor of harmony at Berklee; so he really knows what he’s doing. l think l made the right choice by having Rich on board.

JB:  Michael Zsoldos is a lyrical saxophonist. What do you appreciate about his playing?

DH:  He sure is! Michael is a fantastic musician. Anyone who knows Michael can attest to his beautiful, positive energy which he brings to every project he is on. In addition to being a world-class saxophonist, Michael is the Director of the Dartmouth Choir. So along with Rich and Steve, I had access to a wealth of harmonic knowledge and experience. I can’t say enough about Michael.

JB:  I love “New Tennessee Waltz.” Tell me about that song, and whatever relationship it has with the Patti Page 1950 hit.

Of course, I love the soaring voice that was Patti Page. But the only possible relationship to the hit song is, admittedly, quite vague: for some reason, the rhythm of the original song suggested the title I used. 

JB:  Your guitar sound is wonderful in the recording.  Tell me about your setup.

DH:  My setup couldn’t be simpler: a Ribbecke Halfling guitar straight into an unmodified Music Man RD112 and an Evans amp with a single 8” speaker. Credit has to go to my recording engineer, Gary Henry as well. He did a wonderful job on this project.

JB:  Why close the album with “Uprising?”

 “Uprising” was placed last for two reasons: while the melodies to most of the songs on this recording are deliberately quite simple, the chord progressions were often quite challenging, even for very accomplished musicians. So, I put this little tune together to give everyone a chance to just blow on two chords. I realize it’s a throwback to the era of modal jazz like Coltrane’s “Impressions”. But I don’t worry about that – everyone could just stretch out and have fun. The other reason is I just wanted to end on a positive note: the song “Refuge” preceding “Uprising” was written for displaced people everywhere from Ukraine and Gaza to the countless homeless individuals in this country. It’s a rather plaintive song. So, I just wanted to take it out with something more positive.

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