The Squid's Ear Magazine
Squidco Freedom Sale! July 3-6, Save 10% to 15% on all new items!



Gjerstad, Frode / Fred Lonberg Holm / Steve Swell / William Parker: Tales From (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

After a tour through upstate New York State with Chicago cellist and electronic artist Fred Lonberg-Holm, saxophonist Frode Gjerstad headed to New York City for a planned trio recording which evolved into this informed quartet with Steve Swell on trombone and William Parker on bass, tuba, cornet & flutes, an outstanding example of Transatlanic collective improvisation.
 

Price: $14.35
Price Was: $15.95
Squidco Freedom Sale




Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units


EU & UK Customers:
Discogs.com can handle your VAT payments
So please order through Discogs

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Frode Gjerstad-alto saxophone, eb clarinet

Fred Lonberg-Holm-cello, electronics

Steve Swell-trombone

William Parker-bass, tuba, cornet, flutes


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 5905279364769

Label: Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!)
Catalog ID: FSR 18 | 2020
Squidco Product Code: 29563

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2020
Country: Poland
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at West Park Studio, in Brooklyn, New York, on September 6th, 2019, by Jim Clouse.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Last September I went to the US to play a couple of gigs with Fred Lonberg-Holm in upstate NY and also two in NYC with Fred and Matt Shipp. This trio had recorded in September 2018 and these gigs were in coordination with the release of that album. I had also planned a recording session with my old friends Steve Swell and William Parker.

Less than two weeks before the trio concerts, Matt informed me that he would not be able to join us due to schedule conflicts. I was a bit perplexed at first but then thought about the additional recording I had planned and asked William and Steve to join Fred and me in Matt's place for one of the concerts and Fred to join Williams, Steve, and me for the recording.

On the day of the recording, William set the tone by bringing a whole arsenal of instruments including flutes, tuba, cornet and, of course, his bass, while . Fred brought his cello and electronics, Steve, his trombone and some mutes and I brought what I had with me, which was my sax and clarinet. What we created was far from the drummerless free-jazz session I expected. But the great thing about working with good friends is that together we found and delivered something special! I have known these gentlemen for many years, but I never heard them play this way before.

A couple of days later, Steve, William and I played in a small park on the Lower East Side. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Again William brought his tuba and at a section when I was playing clarinet, we sounded like a band from the 20s! I have some great friends!

Thanks to Fred, William and Steve for taking part in this project. And to Maciej for producing the record. And to Simrit Dhesi for the translation."-Frode Gjerstad, Stavanger, February 2020



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Frode Gjerstad was born in Stavanger, Norway, 24-03-1948. He started trying to play improvised music as a trumpeter in 1968. When he moved to Lund in Sweden (1971 to 1975) he got a chance to meet, talk and play with musicians interested in this music. He had at that time started playing tenor saxophone (1969).

After he came back to Stavanger in 1975 he started collaborating with keyboardist Eivin One Pedersen. Together, they explored many different aspects of improvised music, as a duo or with others, but it was not until 1981, when they first played with John Stevens, that he had a real chance to feel what a dedicated musicians can do to the music-making.

At the early stage of his career, he choose mainly to play with international musicians because there was no tradition in Norway for the free music. However, after the club Blå opened in Oslo in 1996, a good number of younger musicians are now picking up on the music.

His relationship with British drummer, John Stevens which started in -81 and lasted up until his death in -94, was of great importance both musically as well as on a personal level. Through Stevens, he was introduced to some of the finest British improvisers and got to know their way of playing. Together, they led the trio "Detail" starting with Johnny Dyani on bass. And after Johnny died in -86, with Kent Carter.

He has also been active, running a larger group of mostly Norwegian musicians, the Circulasione Totale Orchestra. He started the group using electric instruments and modern rock-oriented rhythms. He has used the band to present his own compositions as well as a workshop and a place for young people to get to know free music. The band presented a commissioned work at the Molde Festival in -89 with a 13 man band combining free improvisations, compositions as well as rapping and scratching.(Three horns, three bassists, three drummers, accordeon, guitar a rapper and a DJ). The Circulasione Totale Orchestra is a powerful ever-changing band.

But it´s not easy to keep such a big group together. In 1998 he decided to keep the core of the band which at that time was Paal Nilssen-Love on drums and Øyvind Storesund on bass and try to develop that sound. It became Frode Gjerstad Trio. So far the trio has toured Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Polen, Italy, Austria, Portugal, England, Canada and the United States.

He has received several grants from various foundations and has been very active in the Norwegian Jazzmusicians Federation as well as in the committee for the Norwegian Contemporary Music Federation. Voted Jazz Musician of the Year in Norway, 1997. Part of the price was a concert where he could freely choose which musicians to use. This was the first meeting with Hamid Drake and William Parker. The concert became a tour of Scandinavia in -97 and the US in 2000.

US Pianist Borah Bergman has also been important to Frode. They first met in -94 and have played as a duo and also as trio with Evan Parker and later Peter Brøtzmann. Borah has been a great inspiration and a challenge over the years!

English bassist Nicholas Stephens first played with Frode in 1984. He played electric bass at the time, but it was not until after John Stevens died in 1994 that they started working together as "Calling Signals". First with a tour of England in 1995 with Paul Rutherford and Terje Isungset. And in 1996 with Louis Moholo and Danish guitarist, Hasse Poulsen. The latest version of the group has been with accordionist Eivin One Pederesen and Paal Nilssen-Love or Tony Marsh on drums. Frode also met and worked with US percussionist Kevin Norton in 2004 and they have found a common ground. They have a trio with Nicholas Stephens: Instinctual Eye.

Electronic music started to make an impact when he met Lasse Marhaug. They have played some concerts together and made some recordings. Lasses sounds have opened up a whole new territory of possibilities and came at a time when Frode started playing clarinets. A very fruitful combination!

Another side of the electronic thing was the group Ultralyd which was Frodes idea: to bring in a loud powerful electric bass with drums, guitar and reeds. After about a year, he left the band because the sound level was unbearable for the old man.! And he left it to the youngsters to decide how loud the band should be. Still, he has continued playing with Morten, Anders and Kjetil in other projects."

-Frode Gjerstad Website (http://frodegjerstad.com/?page_id=162)
7/1/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Fred Lonberg-Holm (born 1962) is an American cellist based in Chicago. He relocated from New York City to Chicago in 1995. Lonberg-Holm is most identified with playing free improvisation and free jazz. He is also a composer of concert works. As a session musician and arranger, he is credited on many rock, pop, and country records. Lonberg-Holm currently leads the Valentine Trio, with Jason Roebke (bass) and Frank Rosaly (drums). This jazz trio performs original compositions as well as tunes by both jazz composers (e.g. Sun Ra) and pop songwriters (e.g. Jeff Tweedy, Syd Barrett). The group released its first album Terminal Valentine, in 2007, which was reviewed by AllAboutJazz critic Nils Jacobson.

He coordinates and directs performances of his Lightbox Orchestra, an improvising ensemble with a flexible, ever-changing membership. Lonberg-Holm does not play an instrument in this group, but rather conducts its non-idiomatic improvisations via the "lightbox" and by holding up handwritten signs. The lightbox contains a light bulb for each musician which Lonberg-Holm switches on or off to suggest when they should play. Collective groups of which Lonberg-Holm is a member include Terminal 4 who released an album, in 2003, called When I'm Falling that received four and a half stars, and AMG Album Pick by Allmusic, and it was reviewed by Allmusic's Joslyn Layne, The Boxhead Ensemble, Pillow, the Lonberg-Holm/Kessler/Zerang trio (with Kent Kessler and Michael Zerang), and the Dörner/Lonberg-Holm duo (with Axel Dörner).

Among groups led by other people, he is a member of the Vandermark 5, the Joe McPhee Trio, the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, Keefe Jackson's Fast Citizens, and Ken Vandermark's Territory Band. When he lived in New York, Lonberg-Holm frequently collaborated with the rock group God Is My Co-Pilot pianist and composer Anthony Coleman as well as multi-instrumentalist Paul Duncan of Warm Ghost. In Chicago, he has worked with Jim O'Rourke, Bobby Conn (on "Llovessonngs" [1999] and "The Golden Age" [2001]), The Flying Luttenbachers, Lake Of Dracula, Wilco, Rivulets, Mats Gustafsson, Sten Sandell, Jaap Blonk, John Butcher, and a great many others.

Lonberg-Holm's concert works have been premiered by William Winant, Carrie Biolo, the Austin New Music Co-Op, Subtropics Ensemble, Duo Atypica, the Schanzer/Speach Duo, New Winds, Paul Hoskin, Kevin Norton, the E.S.P. Ensemble, and others. His scores for dance have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Dance Theater Workshop as well as many other venues. He is a former composition student of Anthony Braxton and Morton Feldman. He performed improvised music in the role of a troubled composer who finds inspiration in the love of a couple he spots on the street in a short film for the Playboy channel."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Lonberg-Holm)
7/1/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Born in Newark, NJ, Steve Swell has been an active member of the NYC music community since 1975. He has toured and recorded with many artists from mainstreamers such as Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich to so called outsiders as Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor and William Parker. He has over 40 CDs as a leader or co-leader and is a featured artists on more than 100 other releases. He runs workshops around the world and is a teaching artist in the NYC public school system focusing on special needs children.

Swell has worked on music transcriptions of the Bosavi tribe of New Guinea for MacArthur fellow, Steve Feld in 2000. His CD, "Suite For Players, Listeners and Other Dreamers" (CIMP) ranked number 2 in the 2004 Cadence Readers Poll. He has also received grants from USArtists International in 2006, MCAF (LMCC) awards in 2008 and 2013 and has been commissioned twice on the Interpretations Series at Merkin Hall in 2006 and at Roulette in 2012.

Steve was nominated for Trombonist of the Year 2008 & 2011 by the Jazz Journalists Association, was selected Trombonist of the Year 2008-2010 , 2012 and 2014-2015 by the magazine El Intruso of Argentina and received the 2008 Jubilation Foundation Fellowship Award of the Tides Foundation. Steve has also been selected by the Downbeat Critics Poll in the Trombone category each year from 2010-2016.

Steve is presently a teaching artist through the American Composers Orchestra, Healing Arts Initiative , Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center (Bronx), the Jazz Foundation of America and Leman Manhattan Preparatory School.

Steve was also awarded the 2014 Creative Curricula grant (LMCC) for the project: "Metamorphoses: Modern Mythology in Sound and Words" which was taught in a month long residency at Baruch College Campus High School in Manhattan."

-Steve Swell Website (http://www.steveswell.com/SteveSwellBio.htm)
7/1/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"William Parker is a bassist, improviser, composer, writer, and educator from New York City, heralded by The Village Voice as, "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time."

In addition to recording over 150 albums, he has published six books and taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians and artists.

Parker's current bands include the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, In Order to Survive, Raining on the Moon, Stan's Hat Flapping in the Wind, and the Cosmic Mountain Quartet with Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan, and Cooper-Moore. Throughout his career he has performed with Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Milford Graves, and David S. Ware, among others."

-William Parker Website (http://www.williamparker.net/)
7/1/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. The Boneyard 4:56

2. The Lie 10:11

3. The Bold 3:35

4. The Belly 7:27

5. The Take 11:38

6. The Immolation 10:02

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Collective Free Improvsation
Quartet Recordings
Parker, William

Search for other titles on the label:
Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!).


Recommended & Related Releases:
Zingaro, Carlos / Bruno Parrinha / Fred Lonberg-Holm / Joao Madeira
Enleio
(4DaRecord)
Reuniting violinist Carlos Zingaro and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm with bassist João Madeira and bass clarinetist Bruno Parrinha, Enleio captures a dynamic Lisbon session of free improvisation rich in textural interplay, pointillist gestures, and evolving sonic dialogues, blending expressive restraint with bursts of manic energy across four nuanced and immersive pieces.
Hirsh, Steve Trio w/ Eri Yamamoto & William Parker
Root Causes
(Mahakala Music)
An inspired session of spontaneously lyrical collective interplay from drummer Steve Hirsh with pianist Eri Yamamoto and bassist William Parker (also performing on gimbri), recorded in a single afternoon at Brooklyn's Park West Studios, presenting four fully improvised pieces that balance nuance, empathy, and depth with free yet cohesive expression.
Gjerstad, Frode
Stavanger 9 9 2024
(FMR)
A live 2024 performance at Spor 5 in Stavanger, Norway, uniting saxophonist Frode Gjerstad with pianist Margaux Oswald and drummer Ivar Myrset Asheim in an engaging set of collective free improvisation marked by dynamic interplay, impressive dialog from reserved introspection to expansive kinetic energy across shifting textures and intensities.
Christi, Ellen (Christi / Buchanan / Ulrich / Parker / Brown)
Instant Reality
(Network)
A striking exploration of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation, this 1992 session unites vocalist and pianist Ellen Christi with Steve Buchanan (electric guitar), Tomas Ulrich (cello), William Parker (bass), and Lefferts Brown (loops), weaving dynamic vocal phrasing, bold instrumental textures, and evolving electronic layers into an immersive and unpredictable sonic landscape.
Centazzo, Andrea
Ictus@45 - Out Off Nights [4 CD BOX SET]
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Celebrating 50 years of Andrea Centazzo's career and 45 years of ICTUS Records, this 4-CD set documents concerts over four nights at Milan's Teatro Out Off, vibrant sets of improvisation uniting global luminaries like Elliott Sharp, Ellen Burr, and Steve Swell in a boundary-pushing exploration of ICTUS's legacy and Centazzo's innovative artistry.
Brotzmann, Peter / Steve Swell / Paal Nilssen-Love
Krakow Nights
(Not Two)
A powerhouse trio of free jazz titans — Peter Brötzmann on saxophone and clarinet, Steve Swell on trombone, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums — captured live at Krakow's Alchemia Club in 2015, delivering a high-energy set of unrelenting interplay, shifting dynamics, and deep improvisational synergy, from explosive full-throttle exchanges to nuanced explorations of timbre and structure.
Brotzmann / Swell / Nilssen-Love
Live in Copenhagen
(Not Two)
Captured live at Copenhagen's Jazzhouse in 2016, the explosive trio of Peter Brötzmann on saxophone & clarinet, Steve Swell on trombone, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion delivers a high-intensity set, opening with the fiery 30-minute "Copenhagen Maneuvers" and continuing through shorter pieces that demonstrate their raw power, deep improvisational synergy, and relentless momentum.
Barker / Parker / Irabagon
Bakunawa [VINYL]
(Out Of Your Head Records)
New York creative scene stalwarts drummer Andrew Barker, bassist William Parker, and saxophonist Jon Irabagon debut as a trio, delivering five collectively improvised explorations that emphasize call-and-response dynamics, weaving and reacting with technically impressive, extended, and unconventional techniques and expressions delivered with confident assertion.
Tungu
Successful Utilization of Elements
(Public Eyesore)
A series of 19 wide-ranging duets between Sergey Senchuk, aka Tungu, who performs on voice, acoustic bass, field recording & sampling, and an impressive set of international improvisers, including Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Jaap Blonk (voice), Gunda Gottschalk (violin), Susan Alcorn (pedal steel guitar), Sainkho Namtchylak (voice), Xavier Charles (clarinet & processing), &c.
Parker / Costa / Ernstring
Pulsar
(NoBusiness)
Rotterdam-based collaborators, alto saxophonist Hugo Costa and drummer Philipp Ernsting, invite legendary bassist William Parker to join them in a Netherlands studio for threeimprovisations that emphasize emotional spontaneity and raw intensity, creating music that finds beauty in exploration and a transformative journey through expressive conversation.
Swell's, Steve Imbued With Light
Hommage a Galina Ustvolskaya
(Silkheart)
Continuing his series of hommages to classical composers, New York trombonist Steve Swell assembles his sextet to improvise under the influence of Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006), whose truly unique "out of the box" approach to structuring sound brings force and intensity to Swell's compositions, yielding inspired performances from all musicians.
Hirsh / Swell / Clouse / Parker
Out On A Limb
(Soul City Sounds)
Brooklyn Saxophonist and Park West Studios founder is the common thread to this quartet with Steve Hirsh on drums, Steve Swell on trombone and William Parker on bass, all frequent collaborators in innumerable projects, here in three extended improvisations beautifully recorded, showing the wealth of experience each has alone and in collective expression.
Bradford, Bobby / Frode Gjerstad / William Roper / Alex Cline
Frice
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Featuring distinctively voiced collective free improvisation, this transatlantic quartet recording on the West Coast brings together legendary musicians Frode Gjerstad on alto saxophone and clarinet, and Bobby Bradford on cornet, alongside contemporary classical and improvising tuba virtuoso William Roper and drummer Alex Cline, delivering five dynamic improvisations with remarkable direction.
Die Like A Dog (Brotzmann / Kondo / Parker / Drake)
Fragments Of Music, Life And Death Of Albert Ayler [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Cien Fuegos)
First vinyl pressing of this '93 Berlin concert at Townhall Charlottenburg from the quartet of Peter Brotzmann on alto & tenor saxophones & tarogato, Toshinoro Kondo on trumpet, William Parker on double bass and Hamid Drake on drums, improvising under the influence and showing their love of saxophonist Albert Ayler through quotation and fragments of Ayler's work.
Carter, Daniel / Leo Genovese / William Parker / Francisco Mela
Shine Hear Volume 2
(577 Records)
Inspired by a poem Daniel Carter wrote about the transience and motion of modern life, the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, William Parker on bass, Gralla & Shakuhachi and Francisco Mela on drums & voice, turn in an ecstatic album of exotic collective improvisation in this second of two volumes from an excellent studio session.
Carter, Daniel / Leo Genovese / William Parker / Francisco Mela
Shine Hear Volume 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
Inspired by a poem Daniel Carter wrote about the transience and motion of modern life, the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, William Parker on bass, Gralla & Shakuhachi and Francisco Mela on drums & voice, turn in an ecstatic album of exotic collective improvisation in this second of two volumes from an excellent studio session.
Parker, William / Ellen Christi
Cereal Music
(Aum Fidelity)
William Parker's first spoken word album, and the continuing collaboration between Parker and composer, vocalist and sound designer Ellen Christi, who developed the underlying tracks, sung vocals and overall sound architecture for Parker's insightful, observational and revealing words and recitation, Parker also providing bass and flute that complement his life-affirming texts.
Parker, William / Cooper-Moore / Hamid Drake
Heart Trio [VINYL]
(Aum Fidelity)
A mesmerizing and organically spiritual album of collective improv from three global travelers based around the NY and Chicago scenes--long-time collaborators William Parker, Cooper-Moore and Hamid Drake--their instrumentation on this beautiful album also uniquely global, including doson ngoni, shakuhachi, bass dudek, Serbian flute, Ney flute, ashimba, hoe-handle harp and frame drum.
Borca / R. Brown / W. Parker / Workman / Nicholson / Murphy / Ibarra / Taylor-Baker
Good News Blues
(NoBusiness)
A vital member of groups led by Jimmy Lyons, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor, Joe Morris and William Parker, bassoonist Karen Borca is heard in two Vision Festival performances under her own name performing her own compositions in trio, quartet and quintet formations with luminaries Rob Brown, William Parker, Reggie Nicholson, Susie Ibarra, Todd Nicholson, Paul Murphy and Newman Taylor-Baker.
Leandre, Joelle
Lifetime Rebel [4 CDs + DVD + BOOKLET]
(RogueArt)
The complete recording of Joëlle Léandre's Lifetime Achievement evening that opened the 2023 Vision Festival at Roulette in Brooklyn, in a box set with 4 CDs, a DVD of a 2023 interview punctuated with bass solos, and a 32-page color booklet of concert images and liner notes from John Sharpe; performances by Tiger Trio, Roaring Tree, Atlantic Ave Septet & the duo of Léandre/Moten.
Futterman, Joel / William Parker
Why
(Soul City Sounds)
Having worked together as members of the Kidd Jordan Quartet, pianist Joel Futterman and bassist William Parker recorded these collective duo improvisations in the studio in New York City in 2020, a perfect match of technical mastery pushing the boundaries of free playing through creative use of tonality, rhythm, and harmony from two extraordinarily compatibile improvisers.
Mela, Francisco featuring. Leo Genovese / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 3 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
The third chapter in Cuban-Born, New York-based drummer Francisco Mela's tribute to his legendary mentor and bandleader Mccoy Tyner, in a trio with William Parker on bass and Leo Genovese on piano, celebrating the avant side of Tyner's work with Coltrane and his own bands, and the influence he had on Mela in encouraging him to push the boundaries of his playing.
Rodrigues / Lonberg-Holm / Hencleeday / Oliveira
Uncommon Statement
(Creative Sources)
Two unique string players--Lisbon's Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Chicago's Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello--with pianist Andre Hencleeday and percussionist Jose Oliveira, in an exhilarating concert of dynamic free improvisation captured live in 2023 at Lisboa Incomum in Lisbon, presented as two "Statements", an apt description of their confident and declarative interplay.
PNY Quintet (Swell / Brown / Edelin / Giron / Betsch)
Over The Wall
(RogueArt)
While NY trombonist Steve Swell and alto saxophonist Rob Brown were in Paris, flutist Michel Edelin, who has recorded and performed with Swell over more than a decade, organized this session with Paris-based American ex-pats, drummer John Betsch and bassist Peter Giron, recording three Swell compositions, two by Brown, one from Edelin and four collective improvisations; magnifique!
Shipp, Matthew / Steve Swell
Space Cube Jazz
(RogueArt)
The first duo recordings from fellow New York jazz musicians, trombonist Steve Swell and pianist Matthew Shipp, having brushed shoulders together with Whit Dickey, Dom Minasai, Jemeel Moondoc, Allen Lowe &c., they bring a wealth of familiar knowledge and language to their binary concentration, through twelve concise dialogs themed around the dark expanse of space; masterful and intimate.
Harnik, Elisabeth / Steve Swell
Welcome to the Troposphere
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
An explorative album of collective free improvisation from the transatlantic duo of German pianist Elisabeth Harnik and New York trombonist Steve Swell, following up on their 2020 album Tonotopic Organisation, this 2022 live concert at Offene Ohren, in Munich brings listeners current to both improvisers immense creative drive, masterful skill, and their mutual, exuberant rapport.




The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC