Home » Jazz Articles » Ballister
Jazz Articles about Ballister
Ballister: Smash and Grab
by Mark Corroto
A listener might have a premonition when they drop the needle on the hot pink vinyl version or push the play button on the CD or digital download of Smash And Grab by the trio Ballister. They understand, or have knowledge by way of the trio's ten previous releases, that a storm awaits them. The trio of saxophonist Dave Rempis, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love conjure a tempest of sound that simply refuses to become background music.
read moreBallister: Chrysopoeia
by Mark Corroto
It is difficult to imagine a Ballister recording having its origins in any setting other than a live performance. The trio of saxophonist Dave Rempis, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love fuels each performance with the audience's energy on all their recordings, including Chrysopoeia, their tenth. Not that the trio could not produce their music in a studio setting, it is just the intensity of their free jazz performances would not contain the fevered eruptions available to the music ...
read moreBallister: Znachki Stilyag
by John Sharpe
Although the title, composed of two unrelated Russian words chosen because they sounded good, doesn't have a meaning, the contents not only sound good but carry rather more weight. The high intensity free jazz trio Ballister comprises reedman Dave Rempis, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, three of the finest proponents on their instruments in this particular ballpark. For its ninth release the band selects three dynamite cuts, coming in at just under an hour, from a live date ...
read moreBallister: Slag
by Nicola Negri
Ballister: cronache di una working band. Sesto album per questo trio, formato nel 2009 da Dave Rempis (sax contralto e tenore) insieme a Fred Lonberg-Holm (violoncello, elettronica) e Paal Nilssen-Love (batteria e percussioni varie). Negli anni la musica del trio ha sempre mantenuto le stesse caratteristiche di base: un'improvvisazione collettiva caratterizzata da una forte spinta ritmica, dove la batteria implacabile di Nilssen-Love sostiene le evoluzioni di Rempis al sassofono, in pieno stile fire music, mentre ...
read moreBallister: Slag
by Mark Corroto
If you were a fan of cyclist Marco Pantani, you must have appreciated the manner in which he could defeat his opponents in a 100 mile bicycle race. Nicknamed il pirata (the pirate), he could rip their legs off from the start, but the real thing of beauty was the numerous other ways he could win. Maybe that is why experiencing the live concert recording SLAG evokes Pantani's style. The trio of saxophonist Dave Rempis, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer ...
read moreBallister: Dave Rempis, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Paal Nilssen-Love: Worse for the Wear
by Angelo Leonardi
Cinque dischi in cinque anni non sono male per un trio dalla spiccata identità free, con innesti rumoristico/elettronici. Nato nel 2011, Ballister è formato dal sassofonista Dave Rempis, dal violocellista Fred Lonberg-Holm e dal batterista norvegese Paal Nilssen-Love, tutti partner -a vario titolo -di Ken Vandermark e dei massimi strumentisti radicali che fanno base a Chicago. La loro è una libera improvvisazione dalle tinte accese, una lava incandescente che investe l'ascoltatore secondo modelli che fanno ...
read more