"Hochman wails on bass clarinet with a tartly lyrical, neo-boppishedge... Hochman's sublime lyricism and warm tones speak to both heart andmind." 
                                --Chuck Berg, "Jazz Times" 

 "The man's music is confident, lyrical and passionate. He playswith a lot of grace, but he's not as pretty as, say, Paul Desmond -- there'smore meat on  him, more insistence, more fire in the belly. ... [Onbass clarinet]  Hochman creates a fat, good-natured, glowing sound,very suave and smooth." 
                                -- Bruce Kennett, "Listener Magazine" 
 
 
 

Musician magazine described the sound as "party music with a socialconscience." And people everywhere agreed that Hill's authoritative combinationof feral guitar workouts, soulful, emotional vocals and hard-hitting, sociallyaware original songs were the ingredients needed to take the blues intothe next century. "Not since Muddy Waters invented electricity," ravedthe Chicago Sun-Times, "has anyone charted as radical a course for theblues as Michael Hill." 

Rhodes hotel roomsBorn in the South Bronx, New York, Hill's music is rooted in traditional 
blues but incorporates the rock and R&B he grew up listening to.It was 
Jimi Hendrix, though, that motivated him to play guitar. "'Purple Haze' 
   changed my life forever," recalls Hill. "The reason Istarted playing guitar was Jimi Hendrix."  He incorporated the soundsof his other influences, including Buddy Guy, B.B.. King, Albert King,Roy Buchanan and tonally, Carlos Santana. His admiration of Bob Marley,as well as authors James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, inspired him to writesongs that speak about socially relevant subjects as well as more traditionaltopics. 
 Michael Hill's Blues Mob is now on tour in support of their newlyreleased, third  album album on Alligator records, "New York Stateof Blues". 
 
 
 

  "Geils and Magic Dick are excellent musicians who consistentlybring new perspectives to the old songs. . . ." --Living Blues 

". . . shows us just how masterful and talented this duo always was-- and promises to be for a long time to come." --Dirty Linen 

  "If the objective of this was not to produce a pleasant and masterlydemonstration of rudiments, that's what it ends up achieving in spite ofitself."  --Jazziz 

 Magic Dick, vocals, Hohner Marine Band, chromatic harmonicas,Hohner Polyphonia bass harmonica, Hohner chord harmonica / Jay Geils, leadguitar, National steel guitar / Jerry Miller, rhythm guitar, mandolin /Michael "Mudcat" Ward, string bass, piano / Steve Ramsay, drums 
 
 
 
 

The instrumentation -- flute, alto flute, soprano sax, flugel horn,guitar, 
keyboards,bass, drums and percussion -- can achieve moments of lushorchestration and counterpoint, whileexpressing a fusion of elements fromjazz, classical and Brazilian music. 

"Exactly the way I think brazilian music should be done. Tasteful, contemporaryand above all keeping alive all the traditional rhythms of our native country.Um grande abraco" - Dori Caymmi 

 "... buoyant sound, sporting salty samba, frisky indigenous rhythmsfrom 
the Brazilian hinterland." 
                                - Mark Holston, JAZZIZ, Dec 97 

"Brazilian Landscapes offers as much to those who want to get up anddance 
ERROR MSGas it does to the sedentary jazz fan." 
                           - Jim Fisch, 20th Century Guitar Player, Jul 97 

"Manga-Rosa, a musical travelogue - An evening spent listening to Manga- 
Rosa amounts to a whirlwind tour of Brazil. A casually sensual guitar 
alternates Rio's syncopated sambas with the Northeastern folk rhythmsof frevo and baiao. .... Above this dense soundscape, a flute duo's counterpointsoarslike a pair of exotic birds ....tunes that offered more than ethnicappeal 
...impeccable command of contemporary jazz idioms ...urban melodies." 
Denmark hotels                           - Catherine Salmons, Boston Phoenix 

"One of the best Latin bands around!" 
                           - Ron De La Chiesa, WGBH-Boston 

"Brandao's Brazilian Jazz draws on lesser-known styles and instruments 
...unlike tired bossa-novas... compositions that make one weep fortheir 
grace." 
                           - Alisa Valdes, Boston Globe