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After leading a klezmer group in New York and playing with
Styrenes and
God Is My Co-pilot,
cellist and avantgarde composer Fred Lonberg-Holm (1962) moved to
Chicago and founded
the Light Box Orchestra, a rotating orchestra of jazz musicians
(guitarists Kevin Drumm and Ben Vida, violinist Bob Marxh, saxophonist Guillermo Gregorio, keyboardist Jim O'Rourke, and so on),
so named because the improvisers are switched on and off by a box of lights,
whose career is documented on First Contact (Locust, 2002).
A pupil of Anthony Braxton, Lonberg focused his early recordings on improvised
music: Theory of Motion (1990), that includes a duet with Braxton,
Solos and Trios (1991), the solo Personal Scratch (february 1996).
Trigger was a surreal trio with Paul Hoskin on contrabass clarinet and Leslie Ross on bassoon, documented on All These Things (june 1992), released only in 2006.
Peep was a quartet with saxophonist Michael Attias, trombonist Edward Ratliff and percussionist Rob Cimino
inspired by circus orchestras and parade bands
that recorded Joy of Being (1997).
In Zenith was a trio with bassist/trombonist Jeb Bishop and drummer Michael Zerang that recorded Building A Better Future (1998).
Since then, his recordings include:
35 Grapes (march 1998), a duo with percussionist Michael Zerang for which Fred Lonberg-Holm played cello, mandolin, erhu, melodica, banjo;
Site-Specific (Explain, 1999), a collection of dissonant duos with Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm, Charles Kim, John Corbett, Michael Zerang, Jim Baker, Ben Vida, Todd Rittman, Michael Krassner, Jeb Bishop, Helen Mirra, and Adam Sonderberg;
Claque (Meniscus, 2000), a trio with trumpeter Alex Dorner and Zerang;
Disappeared (Nuscope, 2001), a trio with pianist Sten Sandell and Zerang;
as well as albums with Peter Broetzmann's and Ken Vandermark's groups.
At the same time, Fred Lonberg-Holm enjoyed playing with rock bands such as
U.S. Maple,
Boxhead Ensemble,
Flying Luttenbachers.
His interest in popular music translated in Terminal 4.
Possibly inspired by the Modern Jazz Quartet,
Terminal 4 (Truckstop, 2001) is his attempt at composing rock music for
a pseudo-jazz quartet of cello,
guitar (Ben Vida), bass (Josh Abrams) and trombone (Jeb Bishop).
The delicate chamber arias of Oil Pack and
This Was The Frippe Time best illustrate the program.
But other, more sophisticated, pieces achieve an intriguing balance of
pop ballad's fluidity, classical music's elegance and
avantgarde music's cacophony:
N Heptane
(contrasting a somber trombone motif and atonal guitar crackling),
Pending Solitude (a gloomy minimalist pattern);
Eat Some More (a Frank Zappa-esque circus fanfare sinking in a lake
of dissonances).
The instruments alternate at decomposing
Slinky, a theme worthy of 1960s tv soundtracks. And
A.D., a sort of speedy folk dance, is pulverized by the guitar.
The overall mood is melancholy, but redeemed by a surreal wit.
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Dietro i Terminal 4 si cela
il piu` noto Fred Lonberg-Holm, polistrumentista (ma eccelle al
violoncello) e compositore. Dopo aver suonato a New York in un gruppo
kletzmer, in un numero impressionante di rock band (God Is My Co-Pilot,
Flying Luttenbachers, US Maple), nel Boxhead Ensemble e dopo aver
registrato collaborazioni che spaziano dal jazz all`avanguardia con
O`Rourke, Peter Brotzmann, Vandermark e Kevin Drumm (solo per citarne
alcuni), si e` calato nei panni del compositore per il progetto Terminal
4.
Seguendo la strada del Modern Jazz Quartet, Terminal 4 (****) e` un
tentativo di comporre musica rock per un quartetto pseudo-jazz di
violoncello, chitarra (Ben Vida), basso (Josh Abrams) e trombone (Jeb
Bishop). Ci sono delicate arie da camera ("Oil Pack", "This Was The
Frippe"), ma altri brani, piu` sofisticati, fondono in modo affascinante
la fluidita` della ballata pop, l`eleganza della musica classica e la
cacofonia dell`avanguardia. E` il caso di "N Heptane" (dove un cupo
motivo del trombone contrasta con il crepitio atonale della chitarra), di
"Pending Solitude" (un malinconico pattern minimalista) e di "Eat Some
More" (una fanfara da circo alla Zappa affondata in un mare di
dissonanze).
Il feeling complessivo e` melanconico, ma compensato da uno humour
surreale.
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Terminal 4's When I'm Falling (Truckstop, 2003) is another essay in
subdued, understated beauty. The
sublime melodies of When I'm Falling and This Can't Go On
are conducted at almost funereal pace by Lonberg-Holm's cello,
Bishop's trombone and Vida's guitar, three instruments that behave like
the voices of a three-part choir. They sing with and against each other,
weaving celestial harmonies that are grounded to simple melodies.
This Must Be The End has the aerial, graceful quality of a medieval
dance.
I Can't Forget is whispered lounge music for late-night improvisers,
and Seltraline is pure "slo-core" melodic abstraction.
Lonberg's A Valentine for Fred Katz (december 2001 - Atavistic, 2003) is a tribute
to jazz cellist Fred Katz.
Pillow is a quartet with Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello,
the Flying Luttenbachers' Michael Colligan on reeds,
and two members of Town And Country,
Liz Payne on bass and Ben Vida on guitar.
Pillow (Boxmedia, 1998),
Field On Water (Hereforeveralways, 2000)
and Three Henries (Hapna, 2001) are sets of improvised jams that hark
back to the most abstract moments of the AMM and free-jazz.
the duets of Object 1 (2003) with German trumpeter Alex Dorner,
Eruption (Grob, 2003) is a collaboration with
Flying Luttenbachers' drummer Weasel Walter
and avant-guitarist and electronic musician Kevin Drumm.
Fred Lonberg-Holm's Dialogs (january 2002 - Emanem, 2005) is actually a series of
cello solos, except that the cellist tries a number of different ways to
"destroy" the sound of the cello.
The Punctual Trio (Carlos Zingaro on violin and Lou Mallozzi on turntables and electronics) released Grammar (may 2003).
Other Valentines (Atavistic, 2005), credited to the Fred Lonberg-Holm Trio
(trumpeter Axel Dorner and percussionist Michael Zerang), fails to create a trio sound.
Terminal Valentine (2007), Lonberg-Holm's third album in a series inspired by the work of cellist Fred Katz, features a new trio
(Jason Roebke on bass and Frank Rosaly on drums).
The Brain of the Dog in Section (november 2007) documents live duets
with Peter Brötzmann.
Credited to trombonist Sebi Tramontana, Night People (july 2001) featured Terri Kapsalis on violin, John Corbett on guitar, Kent Kessler on bass, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Guillermo Gregorio on clarinet.
Ballister was a trio with
Dave Rempis (on alto, tenor and baritone
saxes), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello and electronics) and drummer Paal
Nilssen-Love that debuted on Bastard String (june 2010).
Seval,
a quintet with Swedish vocalist Sofia
Jernberg, guitarist David Stakenas, trumpetist Emil Standberg and
bassist Patric Thorman,
debuted with I Know You (2011) and
2 (482 Music, 2012).
Home (2012) documents an improvised collaboration between Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and John Russell on acoustic guitar that includes the 28-minute Emsket.
Attic Antics (october 2010) documents a collaboration between Lonberg-Holm and bassist Nick Stephens
Coarse Day (Multikulti Project, 2011) (november 2009) documents a collaboration with clarinetist Piotr Melech.
Collaborations with reedist Frode Gjerstad yielded
Sugar Maple (october 2009), also featuring percussionist
Michael Zerang,
VC/DC (), which also included drummer Ståle Liavik Solberg and vocalist Stine Janvin Motland,
and
Tistel (2011).
Fred Lonberg-Holm, Peter Brotzmann and Paal Nilssen-Love formed the Ada Trio that debuted with the mini-album Ada (april 2011).
Mechanisms (november 2010) and
Mi Casa Es En Fuego (april 2012)
document live Ballister performances.
Lonberg also performed with the Fast Citizens, that had already released
two albums, on their third album Gather (july 2011 - Delmark, 2012)
with Aram
Shelton (alto sax, clarinet, cornet), Keefe Jackson (tenor sax, bass
clarinet, reed trumpet), Josh Berman (cornet),
Anton Hatwich (bass, trumpet) and Frank Rosaly (drums, pocket trumpet).
Discus And Plumbing (2012) was a collaboration with
Swedish drummer Raymond Strid.
Fred Lonberg-Holm formed Stirrup with Nick Macri (bass) and Charles Rumback (drums) that debuted on Sewn (2013).
The ADA Trio (saxophonist Peter Brotzmann, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love) recorded ADA Steve Noble OTO (february 2012) and ADA Pat Thomas OTO (2013).
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da xxx)
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