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Peter Br?tzmann & Fred Lonberg-Holm: Memories of a Tunicate

By Mark Corroto
June 19, 2020
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Peter Brötzmann

woodwinds
1941 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Br?tzmann in a duo format brings out the best of Peter Br?tzmann. Yes, but maybe of greater import, the duo also ennobles his improvising partner. Not that cellist

Fred Lonberg-Holm

cello
b.1962

" data-original-title="" title="">Fred Lonberg-Holm needs the accolades. He has been front-and-center of the creative music scene for more than three decades, collaborating with the likes of

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee,

Ken Vandermark

saxophone
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Ken Vandermark,

Dave Rempis

saxophone
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Rempis and as a leader of his own trio, quartet, and The Lightbox Orchestra. His history has also been intertwined with that of Br?tzmann, in the Peter Br?tzmann Chicago Tentet and ADA trio with

Paal Nilssen-Love

drums
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Paal Nilssen-Love.

The saxophonist's work in duos is generally recognized for his recordings with drummers such as

Han Bennink

drums
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Han Bennink,

Hamid Drake

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Hamid Drake,

Nasheet Waits

drums
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Nasheet Waits,

Peeter Uuskyla

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Peeter Uuskyla, and the aforementioned Nilssen-Love. But, of late, he has diversified into duos with pedal steel guitarist

Heather Leigh

guitar, steel

" data-original-title="" title="">Heather Leigh, vibraphonist

Jason Adasiewicz

vibraphone

" data-original-title="" title="">Jason Adasiewicz, and Lonberg-Holm. Together, Br?tzmann and Lonberg-Holm have released two excellent prior duos, the CD The Brain Of the Dog in Sections (Atavistic, 2009) and LP Ouroboros (Astral Spirits/Monofonus Press, 2018). This latest CD, Memories of a Tunicate, may be the jewel in their crown.

With the cellist in a studio, the possibilities sound endless. Credit is due to Lonberg-Holm's liberal use of electronics. Against Br?tzmann's muscular saxophone, the cellist can bring a saturating wall of sound to parry that machine gun attack. This music is, though, not a face-off but a flow. Blasts of sound are tagged and escorted rather than opposed. Like the individual track titles, which are names of obscure sea creatures, the music is designed (actually, improvised) to be shrouded and a bit surprising. Br?tzmann often draws from melancholic extended technique with an old soul's blue feel. For his part, Lonberg-Holm bows and plucks his cello, expanding it into a violin, bass or an electric guitar sound, accented at times with shards of industrial noise. This is one entertaining and exhausting recording.

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Track Listing

Doliolid; Octacnemidae; Pyrosomes; Salp; Thalicia; Aplousobranchia; Stolidobranchia.

Personnel

Additional Instrumentation

Peter Br?tzmann: tenor saxophone, B-flat clarinet, t��rogat��; Fred Lonberg-Holm: cello and electronics.

Album information

Title: Memories of a Tunicate | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Relative Pitch Records

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