The Rebecca Shrimpton/Eric Hofbauer duo unites voice and guitar in an intimate partnership that both celebrates and defies the traditional roles of its instruments.
Inspired by the full spectrum of American music, this pairing of two noted Boston-based musicians brings freshness to jazz standards and stretches out to explore such diverse musical sources as Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Ned Rorem and various practitioners from the folk tradition.
They have played venues in New York City and Boston, and earned accolades for their 2005 debut recording, Madman's Moon (Creative Nation Music), which also featured saxophonist Allan Chase and bassist Scott Barnum.
All Music Guide reviewer François Couture called it “a commanding debut,” adding, “Shrimpton proves that it is possible to inhabit the standard torch songs without oversexualizing them and to present them in arrangements that don't dumb things down to easy-to-follow chord changes.”
“The American songbook is given a new facelift on Madman's Moon,” declared AllAboutJazz.com's Mark F. Turner. “The duo gives new spins on familiar and unfamiliar songs, taking the freedom to try different approaches to the standard jazz vocal songbook. Shrimpton's crystal vocalizations are perfectly matched with Hofbauer's detailed string work...they are thoroughly enjoyable and give new life to time-weathered favorites like 'Pure Imagination.'”
