Fred Lonberg-Holm
Encyclopedia
Fred Lonberg-Holm 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.
) 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.
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
, Mats Gustafsson
, Sten Sandell, Jaap Blonk
, John Butcher
, and a great many others.
, Carrie Biolo, the Austin New Music Co-Op, Subtropics Ensemble, Duo Atypica, the Schanzer/ 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.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He relocated from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Chicago in 1995.
Lonberg-Holm is most identified with playing free improvisation
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
and free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
. He is also a composer of concert works. As a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
and arranger, he is credited on many rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
records.
As leader
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 RaSun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
) and pop songwriters (e.g. Jeff Tweedy
Jeff Tweedy
Jeffrey Scot "Jeff" Tweedy is an American songwriter, musician and leader of the band Wilco. Tweedy joined rockabilly band The Plebes with high school friend Jay Farrar in the early 1980s, but Tweedy's musical interests caused one of Farrar's brothers to quit...
, Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
). The group released its first album Terminal Valentine, in 2007, which was reviewed by AllAboutJazz
All About Jazz
All About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
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.
Other groups
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 KesslerKent Kessler
Kent Kessler is an American jazz double-bassist, best known for his work in the Chicago jazz and avant garde music scene.Kessler, born in Crawfordsville, IN, grew up on Cape Cod and began playing trombone at age ten. He and his family moved to Chicago when he was 13, and a few years later 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
Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark is an American jazz composer and saxophone and clarinet player.A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compositions, which typically balance intricate orchestration with passionate...
5, the Joe McPhee
Joe McPhee
Joe McPhee is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone...
Trio, the Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann is a German artist and free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough, lyrical timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.-Early life:...
Chicago Tentet, Keefe Jackson’s Fast Citizens, and Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark is an American jazz composer and saxophone and clarinet player.A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compositions, which typically balance intricate orchestration with passionate...
’s Territory Band.
When he lived in New York, Lonberg-Holm frequently collaborated with the rock group God Is My Co-Pilot
God Is My Co-Pilot (band)
God Is My Co-Pilot is a queercore band from New York City that's been recording and playing music since 1991. The two main members of God is My Co-Pilot are vocalist Sharon Topper and guitarist Craig Flanagin...
pianist and composer Anthony Coleman
Anthony Coleman
Anthony Coleman is an American musician. Coleman is a piano and keys player, trombonist and vocalist mainly working within the free improvised and avant-garde jazz scenes in downtown New York during the late 1970s through to the present day.His greatest impact was during the 80s and 90s when he...
as well as multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
Paul Duncan of Warm Ghost
Warm Ghost
Warm Ghost is an American alternative music group based on the multi-instrumentalist Paul Duncan who specializes in eclectic sounds from a variety of music genres and who has a background is sound design. Duncan teamed with Oliver Chapoy and records music under the moniker Warm Ghost in 2011...
. In Chicago, he has worked with Jim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke (musician)
Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...
, Bobby Conn
Bobby Conn
Bobby Conn is an American musician based in Chicago, Illinois, known for his pop-rock. He often collaborates with other artists such as musicians Colby Starck and Jim O'Rourke, and film-maker Usama Alshaibi. In 2003, Conn produced a session for UK punk band The Cribs, whom he met when they were a...
(on "Llovessonngs
Llovessonngs
Llovessonngs is an EP released by Chicago-based musician Bobby Conn, which was released in 1999 on Thrill Jockey-Track listing:All songs by Bobby Conn, except Without You by Pete Ham and Tom Evans, and Maria B by Caetano Veloso...
" [1999] and "The Golden Age
The Golden Age (Bobby Conn album)
The Golden Age is a 2001 album by Chicago-based rocker Bobby Conn, released by the Thrill Jockey label.Conn said that the album "is really about this depressing realization that I managed to extend the teenage years into my mid-30s—that’s happened to a lot of people. American society is structured...
" [2001]), The Flying Luttenbachers
The Flying Luttenbachers
The Flying Luttenbachers were an instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist / composer / producer Weasel Walter. The Luttenbachers have created a large body of work focusing on an agenda of musical extremity and dissonance...
, Lake Of Dracula, Wilco
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...
, Mats Gustafsson
Mats Gustafsson
Mats Olof Gustafsson is a Swedish saxophone player and a stalwart on the Scandinavian free jazz scene. He is known for his tonal belligerence and intensity when improvising....
, Sten Sandell, Jaap Blonk
Jaap Blonk
Jaap Blonk is a Dutch avant-garde composer and performance artist.Blonk is primarily self-taught both as a sound artist and as a visual/stage performer. He studied physics, mathematics, and musicology for a time, but did not complete his studies...
, John Butcher
John Butcher (musician)
John Butcher is an English tenor and soprano saxophone player who has lived in London since the late 1970s. He began playing at the University of Surrey where he was studying physics...
, and a great many others.
As composer
Lonberg-Holm's concert works have been premiered by William WinantWilliam Winant
William Winant is an American percussionist.In addition to his work in contemporary classical music -- notably performing Lou Harrison's compositions—Winant has worked in a variety of genres, including noise rock, free improvisation and jazz. Notable collaborators include Glenn Spearman, Thurston...
, Carrie Biolo, the Austin New Music Co-Op, Subtropics Ensemble, Duo Atypica, the Schanzer/ Duo, New Winds, Paul Hoskin, Kevin Norton
Kevin Norton
Kevin Norton is a percussionist and composer active in the New York City jazz and contemporary music scenes. He has performed and recorded with a diverse group of musicians, including Anthony Braxton, Paul Dunmall, Milt Hinton, Fred Frith, David Krakauer, Joelle Leandre, Frode Gjerstad and Wilber...
, the E.S.P. Ensemble, and others.
His scores for dance have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
and Dance Theater Workshop as well as many other venues.
He is a former composition student of Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
and Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
.
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
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
channel.
Discography
- Theory of Motion 1990 (Curious/Pogus)
- Solos and Trios 1991 (Curious/Collision)
- Personal Scratch 1996 (EDM Entertainment)
- Joy of Being 1997 (Knitting Factory Works)
- Building a Better Future 1998 (Miguel Recordings)
- Terminal 4 2001 (Atavistic Records)
- A Valentine for Fred KatzFred Katz (cellist)Fred Katz is an American cellist and composer. He is notable as one of the first jazz musicians to establish the cello as a viable improvising solo instrument. Katz has been described in CODA magazine as "the first real jazz cellist." Cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm Fred Katz (born February 25, 1919 in...
2002 (Atavistic Records) - When I'm Falling 2003 (Truck Stop)
- Dialogs 2004 (Emanem) Reviewed by AllAboutJazz
- Grammar 2005 (Rossbin, Italy)
- Other Valentines 2005 (Atavistic Records)
- Terminal Valentine 2007 (Atavistic Records)
- VCDC 2011 (Hispid Records)