JAZZ REVIEW : Flutist Hofmann’s Sans-Frills Style Has Lots of Thrills

Flutist Holly Hofmann knows her strengths and has the smarts to play to them.

First, Hofmann puts her exquisite tone in the forefront. Working in a mainstream jazz mode Saturday at Vinnie’s with the solid trio of keyboardist Joe Massimino, bassist Luther Hughes and drummer Art Rodriguez, the San Diego resident emphasized her lovely sound by playing plenty of long notes that allowed it to ring. Even when she played brief notes, they still had a nice fatness to them.

When Hofmann was utilizing her instrument’s low range, as on a dulcet version of “But Beautiful,” you could almost see her stream of air bounce against the flute’s inner chamber, creating round, golden tones that wafted through the club. When Hofmann chose notes from her flute’s upper reaches, they took on a pleasing thinness and gleamed.

Hofmann proved to be a no-nonsense musician. She neither engaged in fancy tricks to grab an audience’s attention, say by holding a note for two minutes straight with circular breathing. Nor did she employ the kinds of angular lines and sometimes hard-on-the-ear dissonances that mark the work of such 20th-Century classical giants as Bela Bartok and Arnold Schoenberg.

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Rather, the Cleveland native performed with a pleasing simplicity, offering interpretations and improvisations that were replete with flowing statements and chunky, rhythmic lines that had “swing” written all over them.

Hofmann’s second set Saturday--she also appeared Friday--was a well-rounded affair that began with a little-known Brazilian tune and concluded with a rousing take of Branoslav Kaper’s “Green Dolphin Street.”

“Ilha Dos Frades,” written by bassist Jose Marino of the group Velas, was ideally suited to Hofmann’s sans-frills style.

Taken at an loping, easy gait, the number’s singable melody led to a flute improvisation that included such rhythm-conscious phrases as doubled-tongued notes that climbed upward, and ascents climaxed by three, sharply separated tones, like exclamation points.

On “My Funny Valentine,” Hofmann gave the familiar melody new life by surrounding it with ornamental touches. She would approach a key note by leaping above it and then falling back, or by putting that note in the middle of a two- or three-note figure.

Later, during her solo, she played softly, issuing short ideas not far from the melody, then gathered steam and hit the last phrases of her improvisation with gusto.

Hofmann wove in her classical background--she has a master’s degree in music from the University of Northern Colorado--by opening “Softly, as in a Morning’s Sunrise” with two choruses that could have been out of a Bach fugue.

Then, on this brisk number, the flutist again employed rhythmic statements, staggering her notes to allow space between them, and linking repeated ideas with others into chains of interesting musical thought.

Massimino, Hughes and Rodriguez gave Hofmann a flexible, reliable platform to work from, and, in turn, they contributed energizing, thoughtful solos that added a good deal to the success of the show.