For audiophiles: This was recorded live to two channel DSD by Tom Jung at the beautiful Minnesota Public Radio Studio M. in St. Paul, Minnesota. Available in SACD format.
Mastered by Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering

“Full Circle mixes old and new in a dozen well-chosen, deftly played up-tempo numbers and ballads. The format of two lead voices—piano and vibraphone—picks up where the Modern Jazz Quartet left off.”

Michael Anthony, Star Tribune Staff Writer

Working with Herb Pilhofer over a 3 year period was one of the best experiences musically for me. I owned 2 sets of Vibes at the time, I was so damn busy - and kept one at his house where he had his 9ft Bosendorfer Piano. We would spend hours working on lines together. He was very specific and detailed about counterpoint between Vb/Pno, phrasing and dynamics. Taught me so much. True maestro. I loved every minute.
My music charts for those sessions are marked up like a battle field :)
The quartet as a whole rehearsed beyond that often - and we developed a very cool sound.

From the Star Tribune:

Since coming from Germany in the mid 1950s, Herb Pilhofer has spent much of the past 45 years as a successful commercial musician in Minneapolis, working as a hired gun in recording studios and at the Guthrie Theater. In recent years, though, he’s had the itch to get back to the creative improvising that inspired him as young man, so he’s returned to his roots with Full Circle.

A while back, I began to spend some time playing my Bosendorfer piano. Like I used to do in the days when and performing gave meaning to my life. And I knew what l had to do. I got rid of all the hi-tech stuff, started to work on some new music and formed the Pilhofer Jazz Quartet.

Now I am discovering absolute joy in making the music that I love to make as well as the privilege of playing with talents like Steve Yeager (Vibes), Gordy Johnson (Bass), and my talented son, Michael Pilhofer, (Drums). It’s all priceless!

I am forever grateful to Tom Jung, my former partner and friend, who encouraged me to do this album. For as long as I’ve known Tom, he has always been on a quest “for that perfect sound.” Lucky for the Pilhofer Jazz Quartet, he is still chasing that rainbow.

He recorded Full Circle in the best possible, most natural way, with the revolutionary, Direct Stream Digital (DSD) recording system. Recorded live, there are no overdubs and no tricks. Yes, you’ll hear an occasional clinker. You’ll hear us breathe, even groans, but I hope that you will also hear us “smile!”

When I heard the first playback, I smiled because I realized “I was home”. In a very peculiar and fortuitous way. It seemed that actually two dimensions, the music and the sound had come full circle.

So here then is our very direct, no frills, Full Circle album! Very much from the heart…

– Herb Pilhofer