But Hofmann fronts the band like a lead guitarist in a rock band, and, even when it’s not her turn to shred, she has such a fun personality, she leads the entertainment.
That’s just a side benefit to what Hofmann can bring with her instruments, especially the difficult alto flute. Her engaging personality comes through in the C flute with great inventiveness, but, when she switches to the alto flute, it’s like picking out a bigger bat and being able to swing for the home run. She has the breath control to really swing, she also can express these deep emotions on ballads with a tone as full and penetrating as Bing Crosby’s classic baritone from the 1930s.
Hofmann and several of the other featured artists on Pete Carlson’s Jazz for Jazz Lovers Series drew big crowds at the Annenberg Theater in the late 1990s and early 2000s. If the Palm Springs Art Museum wants to bring instrumental jazz back to that theater, Hofmann and Wofford – or Wofford and Hofmann – would be a good place to start.
