Hot Cup Records has released of the
ninth recording project from Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord, a new
full-length CD and digital download titled Harder on the Outside. This new album comes on the heels of
Lundbom's ambitious four-CD/digital EP set released in 2016 and is his first
full-length album since 2015's Jeremiah.
The roots of this new album lie in a years-long project
between Lundbom and Bryan Murray (a.k.a. the world famous Balto
Exclamationpoint). Over the past many years, Murray has developed a passion
(and odd sort of fame on Facebook's Jam of the Week) for sampling and beat
construction. For the project with Lundbom, Murray sampled old Big Five Chord
albums (and related Hot Cup properties) and constructed beats to which Lundbom
composed new music. They then sent the tracks back and forth to record live
performances of the new music, improvised solos, and accompaniment. The result
is called Beats by Balto, Vol. 1, to be released Tuesday, March 19 on Chant
records.
Harder on the Outside is, at core, live renditions of the
songs composed for this first edition of Beats by Balto! The album was recorded
live in studio in New Jersey during the summer of 2018, marking Big Five
Chord's fifteenth anniversary as a band. And Harder on the Outside is easily
Big Five Chord's strongest outing since 2013's Liverevil, perhaps their finest
recording to date.
The title can be taken at least four different ways: (1) as
metaphor for one's personality "hardening" with age; (2) as a
political statement, about alienation due to rising fascism and xenophobia; (3)
as a statement about purity in free/"outside" music/improvisation;
and (4) as fact, that it's really hard to make an album when you live in Austin
and the rest of your band is in New York.
The album opens with the sole new Lundbom composition NOT
from the Beats by Balto! project titled "People Be Talking." Set in a
1970's 6/4, the song features a relatively classic jazz vocabulary-style head
over a driving groove laid down by the rhythm section of Moppa Elliott on bass
and Dan Monaghan on drums. But when the solos start, Elliott and Monaghan blast
off into a borderline-irascible, Afro-Cuban inspired feel. And in comes Bryan
Murray on tenor, doing his best Pharaoh Sanders-meets-Albert Ayler. As Murray's
solo winds down, the groove disintegrates into a rolling, rollicking
out-of-time solo by Lundbom.
It's worth noting that for this album, Lundbom is playing a
Fender Jazzmaster retrofitted with experimental pickups built by Chicago's
Duneland Labs. These pickups are prototypes built for Nels Cline that now live
with Lundbom in Austin, TX. One of Lundbom's goals in recording Harder on the
Outside was to employ a wide range of different (non-effected) tones from these
extraordinary instruments, and it shows.
Next up: the first composition developed for Beats by
Balto!, titled "Basic Bitches." A spare and austere composition,
"Basic Bitches" features a droning ostinato-like bass line (doubled
by guitar) and somewhat "trap"-inspired drum groove. After the
saxophones state the melody three times, Murray picks up his trademark balto!
saxophone and teaches a master class in what to do with an alto saxophone with
a baritone mouthpiece and plastic reed. Lundbom solos next, opting for more of
a Scofield-like tone and approach over Elliott's and Monaghan's mean-ass
half-time rock beat.
And then Lundbom & Co. slow it down for
"Prednisone," another composition from Beats by Balto! Here, the
rhythm section strides forth squarely in dirge mode, as the saxophones wail in
mournful, perfect fourths above. Here, the first solo is from long-time "sixth
five chord" Mr. Justin Wood on alto saxophone, twisting and dancing
delicately through the melodic implications of the theme. But as Wood winds
down, Lundbom kicks things into high gear with a loud, fuzz-driven Bobo Alan
Holdsworth solo. Having played all of the notes in all of the permutations at
all of the speeds, Lundbom calls for a dramatic quits, squealing and squeaking
and squonking past the otherwise cleanest of breaks.
Harder on the Outside continues with "Booberonic,"
a Beats by Balto! composition based around samples from Moppa Elliott's solo
bass album Still, Up in the Air (that poor Moppa has to recreate here, over and
over). It's a big time groovy number with an intricate, snaky back-and-forth
between Murray on tenor and Wood on alto. Solo-wise, Wood gets it going,
exploring the nooks and crannies while the rhythm section - unusually - keeps
the A section/B section back-and-forth going strong. Lundbom breaks it all up,
though, focusing on shorter, more staccato phrasing performed with a thinner,
grindier, funkier sound - say, Catfish Collins meets Sonny Sharrock,
underwater.
And then comes "Cereal," yet another piece from
Beats by Balto! with a dumb joke for a title. Smooth and even and drone-y,
nothing but footballs from the horns and nothing but glissando-y, West Coast
inspired groove from the rhythm section. Lundbom solos first, finally, playing
withŠwhat's this?...a clean "Jazz" tone! And what a clean
"Jazz" tone it is. Lundbom plays real pretty for the producer (ibid),
bringing thoughtful, tasteful melodic construction to the otherwise rock- and
hip-hop-infused session. Next up, Wood (on soprano) in duet with Elliott on the
bass, gesturing playfully back-and-forth over Monaghan in pure "solid
pocket" mode. Wood "wins" and the piece winds down as gently as
it began.
"Fussing Blues" is a "cover," of sorts.
Originally written in 1924 for tenor banjo by Frank Littig, Lundbom and Big
Five Chord treat it as a great excuse for a 60's-style Free Jazz Romp. The
melody is loose, the solos collective, the "jazz ending" (as dictated
by the published sheet music) surprisingly tight.
But all things must come to an end and the album shall pass
indeed, closing with "Three Plus." There's three saxophones on the
head, but - don't worry - Murray is doing double-duty here, overdubbing the
third part (he does all three parts on Beats by Balto!). Monaghan (#toms) and
Elliott (#RonCarter) REALLY dig in on this one, lending the louche, languorous
groove the deepest of pockets. Wood and Murray solo together, and it's awesome.
Just awesome. When it comes time for
Lundbom to play, he really lets the dogs out, moving through his incredible
solo turn with precision and style and fury, closing the album out in style
indeed.
But wait! There's more! A bonus track!!! "Basic Bitches
(alt)" is an alternate, over-produced (or just masterfully produced for
radio?!?) take of "Basic Bitches" in which the rhythm section sticks
with the "trap"-inspired groove and Murray plays "MC" with
his balto! for like ten minutes or whatever. Call up your local Jazz station
and request it by name.
Formed in 2003, Big Five Chord is the primary vehicle for
the music of Austin, TX-based guitarist, composer, and bandleader Jon
Lundbom. Jon's music - described as
"Hardbop + Zeppelin + Schoenberg" (Dave Madden, 'SLUG') - is a
showcase for his "intense phrasing and mind-altering solo spots"
(Glenn Astarita, 'All About Jazz'), a "boundary-shattering shot of
adrenaline that screws with your head and messes with your soul" (Jordan
Richardson, 'The Seattle PI'). Jon has
been called "an idiosyncratic genius harboring boundary-stretching notions
in his musical make up" (CJ Bond, 'JazMuzic.com'); "hopefully Lundbom
will start getting more attention for his fresh perspective, both as a writer
and player" (Mike Shanley, 'ShanleyOnMusic'), "[Jon's playing brings]
new ideas to what jazz guitar can be" (Paul Acquaro, 'Free Jazz Blog');
"Big Five Chord, individually and collectively, is one of the most
important [ensembles] around today" (Gregory Applegate Edwards,
'Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog'). "Olympic-caliber guitar
gymnastics" (Bob Gendron, 'Downbeat'). "A guitarist" (The New
York Times). In addition to Big Five Chord, Lundbom performs with many other
groups, most notably Bryan & the Haggards.
Justin Wood grew up in frozen Northern Maine, which might
account for his warm sound and "spark-spewing solos that showcase the
alto's best qualities" (All About Jazz).
Living in New York City for the past two decades, Justin has established
a presence as a highly versatile and always unique voice on the saxophones and
flute.
Originally from West Virginia, balto! saxophonist Bryan
Murray (a.k.a. Balto Exclamationpoint) leads Bryan and the Haggards, New York
City's most decorated avant-country instrumental Merle Haggard cover band;
their collaboration with the legendary Eugene Chadbourne "Merles Just
Wanna Have Fun" is available now from Northern Spy. He has toured with
David Byrne and St. Vincent, recently released a solo hip-hop recording on his
balto! saxophone, and is featured heavily on Facebook's "Jam of the
Week." www.bryanmurray.net
Accomplished bassist and composer Moppa Elliott is leader of
the band Mostly Other People Do the Killing. A Pennsylvania native and graduate
of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Moppa has appeared in the DownBeat
Critics' Poll in three different categories: Rising Star Bassist, Rising Star
Composer, and Rising Star Arranger. He
teaches music at The Information Technology High School in Long Island City and
runs Hot Cup records.
http://www.moppaelliott.com
Dan Monaghan, a native of Mansfield, Pennsylvania who
teaches percussion at Temple and Widener Universities, is one of Philadelphia's
most in-demand drummers. Dan has
performed and/or recorded with jazz luminaries such as Eric Alexander, Peter
Bernstein, Jimmy Bruno, Joe Magnarelli, and Randy Brecker and is equally at
home playing straight-ahead jazz and aggressive rock and metal, making him the
perfect drummer for Big Five Chord.
No comments:
Post a Comment