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Jazz Articles about Fred Lonberg-Holm
Ballister: 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 ...
Continue ReadingStirrup: Cut
by Vincenzo Roggero
Che imbracci la chitarra o l'usuale violoncello poco importa a Fred Lonberg-Holm. Perché il risultato è parimenti esaltante, gli strumenti esplorati in ogni loro componente vengono a più riprese fatti deflagrare, schegge schizzano per ogni dove, bagliori illuminano a giorno anche le atmosfere più attigue all'oscurità, il senso di spiazzamento informa ogni movimento d'arco e ogni pennata di corde. Anarchia assoluta, caos più o meno organizzato, cacofonie, noise, distorsioni aiutate dall'elettronica a dettare legge? Niente affatto, perchè ...
Continue ReadingStirrup: Cuts
by Mark Corroto
The good news about the end of record stores as brick-and-mortar businesses is that people like you--weirdos and freaks (ok, me too)--cannot be segregated into the jazz section, and Fred Lonberg-Holm's music may be available to a wider listening audience. That might be just our dream, but with music coming from his trio Stirrup, internet crawlers and open-ear listeners can get hip to what he's putting down. Lonberg-Holm plays his signature cello, plus electronics and electric guitar here ...
Continue ReadingFred Lonberg-Holm/Ken Vandermark: Resistance
by Mark Corroto
When you consider all the musicians that have recorded duos with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, it sounds kind of like the SPAM Monty Python sketch comedy piece. “Yes, I'll have some Fred Lonberg-Holm and Ken Vandermark." What, you don't want Fred Lonberg-Holm and Axel Dörner, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Mats Gustafsson, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Peter Brotzmann, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Paal Nilssen-Love, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Frode Gjerstad or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Nick Stephans, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and David Stackenäs, ...
Continue ReadingParty Knüllers: Was Something Lost in Translation?
by John Eyles
The duo Party Knüllers is a transatlantic collaboration between Chicago's own Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics and Norway's Ståle Liavik Solberg on drums & percussion. The two played together in a quartet, also including clarinetist Frode Gjerstad and vocalist Stine Janvin Motland, on VC/DC (Hispid, 2011), the inaugural release of the label that now releases two albums by the duo themselves. One of these albums is a vinyl collaboration with Chicagoan Jim Baker on analogue synthesizer, bearing a bizarre ...
Continue ReadingStirrup: Sewn
by Troy Collins
The collective trio Stirrup is a salient example of the genre-defying cooperative spirit that defines Chicago's creative improvised music scene. Accustomed to collaborating with a wide variety of artists, these three musicians seamlessly incorporate an array of influences and approaches on Sewn, their debut recording as a trio.Drawing upon the folksy lyricism that underpins their ensemble work as the rhythm section of the Horse's Ha (a band that also features vocalist Janet Bean of Freakwater and Eleventh Dream ...
Continue ReadingStirrup: Sewn
by Mark Corroto
It's apparent why Ken Vandermark invited cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm to join the now defunct Vandermark 5 a decade ago. His versatility allows him to play a full spectrum of music from chamber jazz to stadium rock. One minute he's Pablo Casals, the next Jimi Hendrix. His adventures have taken him from Peter Brotzmann's Tentet to Dave Rempis' Ballister, to Chicago's Fast Citizens, and his own Valentine Trio, Seval, ADA Trio, and The Boxhead Ensemble. Stirrup is a trio ...
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