Jazz Articles

Erik Friedlander: A Queens' Firefly

by Troy Dostert
August 7, 2022

When a cello is your calling card, it is only to be expected that the “chamber jazz" label will tend to follow you around--and so it has for Erik Friedlander, although that term hardly does justice to the variegated possibilities he sets in motion through his assorted projects. Having worked with a “who's who" list of cutting-edge musicians including Myra Melford, Dave Douglas, Sylvie Courvoisier, John Zorn, and countless others including artists well outside the jazz world such as the ...

Erik Friedlander: Rings

by Jakob Baekgaard
July 3, 2016

Repetition is sometimes seen as a bad thing. The mundane cycle of everyday life involving the same actions. However, it is only through repetition that differences can occur. A weekend is only special because it stands out as a difference from the ordinary week. But repetition is not only useful as a way of appreciating difference, it also has it is own poetry, which has been explored by minimalistic pioneers such as Philip Glass and Steve Reich. ...

Erik Friedlander: Oscalypso

by Troy Collins
October 27, 2015

As a veteran of the fertile 1990s Downtown NYC scene, cellist Erik Friedlander has been involved in myriad creative endeavors, including innovative sideman work with Dave Douglas and John Zorn, while leading his own unique ensembles, such as Chimera and Topaz. More recently, Friedlander has been performing solo and developing projects inspired by rural Americana, but he has never released an album of covers--until now.Oscalypso features creative reinterpretations of nine of Oscar Pettiford's most beloved tunes. Although Friedlander ...

Erik Friedlander: Nighthawks

by Troy Collins
May 29, 2014

Named after the famous Edward Hopper painting, which depicts four people in a diner late in the evening, Nighthawks was conceived by cellist Erik Friedlander under similarly evocative circumstances--during the nearly week-long blackout that enveloped much of New York City in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in September of 2012. Inspired by the uncanny quiet and solitude, Friedlander set to work crafting a series of new compositions for his roots music-based Bonebridge quartet with slide guitarist Doug Wamble, bassist Trevor ...

Erik Friedlander: Claws & Wings

by Troy Collins
October 8, 2013

How does one deal with the loss of a loved one? For many artists, expressing remorse through their work is a normal, sometimes necessary, part of the grieving process. Creative improvising musicians, like renowned cellist Erik Friedlander, are no exception.Lynn Shapiro, Friedlander's wife of 22 years (and an award winning choreographer and writer in her own right), died in November 2011 after a long bout with breast cancer. Just days after her passing Friedlander tore a ligament in ...

Erik Friedlander: Bonebridge

by Troy Collins
June 23, 2011

The quartet featured on Bonebridge is an augmented variation of cellist Erik Friedlander's Broken Arm Trio. The group, with bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Mike Sarin, was originally conceived in tribute to Oscar Pettiford's cello experiments--which were undertaken in 1949 when the legendary bassist played the smaller instrument while recovering from a baseball injury. Refraining from bowing, Friedlander employs a fulsome pizzicato technique on the new ensemble's self-titled debut, finding supple concordance with slide guitarist Doug Wamble's spiky twang. Their ...

Erik Friedlander: Broken Arm Trio

by Mark Corroto
October 25, 2008

Inspired by the late great bassist Oscar Pettiford (1922-1960) who, after breaking his arm took up the cello is this project by the cellist Erik Friedlander. His Broken Arm Trio is a sweet downhome session full of homespun jazz. Together with bassist Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Trio-Convulsant, Junk Genius) and drummer Mike Sarin (Thomas Chapin, Ben Allison, Mario Pavone) Friedlander puts down (for the most part) his bow to produce some inspired and folksy pizzicato playing.While Friedlander has ...

Erik Friedlander: Broken Arm Trio

by Troy Collins
October 22, 2008

The self-titled debut of Downtown cellist Erik Friedlander's Broken Arm Trio refers to an injury that legendary bassist Oscar Pettiford sustained while playing baseball in 1949. Pettiford couldn't play upright bass with his arm in a sling, but he could handle the cello; he proceeded to develop a style on the smaller instrument that yielded a spate of cello-themed albums, including the classic My Little Cello (America, 1960), a personal favorite of Friedlander's. Inspired by Pettiford's efforts, Friedlander ...

Erik Friedlander: Block Ice & Propane

by John Kelman
September 29, 2007

Erik Friedlander's last solo cello disc, the avant-tinged Maldoror (Brassland, 2003), was a series of in-the-moment improvisations inspired by 19th century French surrealist poetry. Block Ice & Propane is an entirely different beast, stimulated by memories of childhood camping trips across the United States, on which Friedlander's parents took him each summer. It's no less adventurous or spontaneous, but it is considerably more accessible--how Bill Frisell might sound, perhaps, had he chosen the cello rather than the guitar.

Friedlander's impressive ...

Erik Friedlander: Block Ice & Propane

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
August 8, 2007

The seemingly endless horizon of the Great Plains. The vast expanse of “Big Sky country. The NYC skyline emerging after a long trip. Some features of America are best appreciated with the ground-level intimacy afforded by a classic road trip. And once experienced, they cannot help but leave an impression. Cellist Erik Friedlander used these impressions, gleaned from childhood family trips, as inspiration for his solo CD Block Ice & Propane. No stranger to developing extended techniques ...