Two burning improvisations from the Chicago / Norwegian trio Ballister of Dave Rempis on alto & tenor saxophones, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion, performing live at Alchemia in Krakow, Poland in 2019 in an exuberantly assertive concert from three incredibly active artists in the trans-Atlantic community of improvising musicians.
The tenth year of the working and touring international Ballister trio of Dave Rempis on alto & tenor saxophones, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion, here in an outrageously powerful yet explorative concert at Dom Cultural Center, in Moscow, Russia in 2019, a fierce example of what this band is capable of.
Captured live at Chicago's Elastic Arts, the trio of Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Ben Bennett on percussion, and Zoots Houston on synthesizer, work on a nearly microscopic level as they use extended techniques and unusual synthetic timbres, transforming from abrasive and gritty to broad tonal environments, from monumental sound to moments of pin drops; fascinating.
While both improvisers were in New York City for the 2019 Vision Festival, multi-reedist and European Free Improv legend Peter Brötzmann met Chicago cellist and electronics artist Fred Lonberg-Holm to record their 3rd album together, their 1st album in the studio a diverse set of incredible concentration, with Brötzmann performing on tenor saxophone, woodwind, and clarinet.
Recorded during the 2002 studio sessions that yielded the albums A Short Visit to Nowhere and Broken English, this unreleased recording of a Mars Williams composition is issued as a 1-sided LP with the stellar lineup of Brötzmann with Williams, Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kent Kessler, Michael Zerang, Hamid Drake, Mats Gustafsson and Joe McPhee.
Bringing together the core of the Gebhard Ullmann / Steve Swell Quartet in sax and trombone with Chicago mainstay improvisers Fred Longberg-Holm on cello & electronics and Michael Zerang on drums for an album that embraces free jazz, world rhythms, and experimental sound.
Featuring compositions from both trombonist Steve Swell and tenor saxophonist & bass clarinetist Gebhard Ulmann, the second album from The Chicago Plan with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Michael Zerang is captured in the studio in Augsburg, Germany for six exceptional modern jazz recordings from a profoundly masterful and experienced transatlantic band.
8 duos recorded in the studio between bassist Damon Smith and free vocalist Carol Genetti, and 4 trio tracks adding Fred Lonberg-Holm on violoncello and performing live at Chicago's Empty Bottle.
Guillermo Gregorio produces a series of compositions that reinterprets the structural concepts of Constructivism, Concretism, and Madi, focusing on the physicality of sound.
Three bassists converged on WNUR Studios, in Evanston, Illinois in 1998 to record these tracks, finally released after 16 years: 5 freely improvised trio sessions, 6 miniatures suggested by Kowald and performed by the trio, and 6 duos between Kowald and Lonberg-Holm.
Four configurations of far-reaching free improv at Notice Recordings's 2021 event in Accord, NY: a solo performance by Charmain Lee on voice & electronics; a duo between Lee and Weston Olnecki on synths & trombone; a trio from Gabby Fluke-Mogul on violin, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Joanna Mattrey on viola; a duo between Lonberg-Holm and Olencki.
With a history of collaboration in the Lisbon improvisation scene through bands including Variable Geometry Orchestra, IKB, Isotope Ensemble, &c., guitarist Abdul Moimême (performing on two guitars simultaneously) and electronics artist Carlos Santos join with Chicago cellist & electronic improviser Fred Lonberg-Holm for five elaborate alien soundscapes of impressive detail and skill.
"This Time", "That Time" and "Next Time", the three titles from the first duo meeting of Joe McPhee on tenor saxophone and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, also bringing electronics, the distillation of their playing outside of Survival Unit III a revelation in intensity and unconventional creativity, fueled by magnificent playing and an empathetic rapport.
Portuguese electric guitarist Luis Lopes met Chicago free improvising cellist and electronic artist Fred Lonberg-Holm in the studio in Lisbon to record these five improvisations, both using innovative approaches to effect processing to expand their sound into unusual sonic environments, balancing beauty and abrasive sound.
A set of blues songs of a personal nature, concepts for a broken yet hopeful age, written and sung by improvising guitarist Marcin "M" Olak (Gadt/Osborne/Zakrocki/Olak, Agusti Fernandez) performed and expanded by a set of stellar improvisers: Ben Stapp on tuba, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Marco Colonna on flute and Steve Swell on trombone.
A dynamic encounter between Chicago improvising cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, Red Trio pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro, and Creative Sources label leader, violist Ernesto Rodrigues, performing live during the CreativeFest XIII at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal, in one extended improvisation and a relatively concise coda; powerful and assertive, masterful work.
1 Incidental Projections 25:28
Chicago free improvising mainstay Fred Lonberg-Holm's Stirrup trio with Nick Macri on double bass and Charles Rumback on drums crosses genres and grooves in an album balancing lyrical and hard-grooved tunes, with Lonberg-Holm taking up guitar on a number of tracks.
The Stirrup trio of cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, Nick Macri (bass), and Charles Rumback (drums) is merged with improvisers from Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra project--Keefe Jackson & Mars Williams on reeds, guitarist Peter Maunu, violist Jen Clare Paulson, trumpeter Russ Johnson & Zoots Houston on electronics -for this compelling structured performance at Elastic Arts.
An essential asset of the NY Downtown scene since the 70s, trombonist Steve Swell leads and composes for an exemplary and uniquely orchestrated sextet bridging generations: Jason Kao Hwang on violin, viola & electronics, Ariel Bart on harmonica, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics, Robert Boston on piano & organ, and Andrew Cyrille on drums & percussion.
In 2000, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and curator John Corbett organized a 16-piece free music big-band featuring key members of the Chicago and Swedish scenes, recording these two impressive, ecstatic, and explosive works.
Following their 2011 album on the Norwegian Hispid label, the quartet of clarinetist Frode Gjerstad, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, drummer Stale Liavik Solberg and vocalist Stine Janvin Motland perform two excellent extended improvisations at Galleri Sult in Stavanger.
Chicago saxophonist Mars Williams directs his Albert Ayler tribute band, Witches and Devils, to merge Ayler-esque compositions with Christmas songs, performed by Josh Berman (cornet) Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Jim Baker (keys, viola), Kent Kessler (bass), Brian Sandstrom (bass, guitar, trumpet); an unexpected and welcome present for your free jazz festivities!
After releasing "An Ayler Xmas: The Music of Albert Ayler & Songs of Christmas" on Chicago saxophonist Mars Williams' Soul What? Label, ESP approached him for a 2nd volume, resulting in this joyful and quirky holiday record with contributions from Josh Berman, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kent Kessler, Jeb Bishop, Christof Kurzmann, Didi Kern, Thomas Berghammer, Steve Hunt, Jim Baker and Hermann Stangassinger.
This year's An Ayler Xmas, the 4th in the series from saxophonist Mars Williams, expands to a double CD with recordings from two bands: Josh Berman, Jim Baker, Kent Kessler, Brian Sandstrom & Steve Hunt (Chicago); and Steve Swell, Hilliard Greene, Chris Corsano, Nels Cline & Fred Lonberg-Holm (NYC); in incredible free jazz mashups and bash-ups of Holiday favorites.