Fred Lonberg-Holm

Infobox musical artist
Name = Fred Lonberg-Holm

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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
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Instrument = Cello
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Genre = Jazz
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Fred Lonberg-Holm (born 1962) is an American cello player based in Chicago. He relocated from New York 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.

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 Ra) and pop songwriters (e.g. Jeff Tweedy, Syd Barrett).

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, 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 and pianist and composer Anthony Coleman. In Chicago, he has worked with Jim O'Rourke, Bobby Conn (on "Llovessonngs" [1999] and "The Golden Age" [2001] ), The Flying Luttenbachers, Wilco, Mats Gustafsson, Sten Sandell, Jaap Blonk, John Butcher, and a great many others.

As composer

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.

External links

* [http://fredsgigs.blogspot.com/ blog with upcoming performance dates]
* [http://www.furious.com/perfect/fredlonbergholm.html interview (Perfect Sound Forever)]
* [http://www.fakejazz.com/interviews/lonbergholm.shtml interview (Fake Jazz)]
* [http://www.ink19.com/issues/november2002/interviews/fredLonbergHolm.html interview (Ink 19)]
* [http://www.deadceo.com/interview_fred.html interview (Dead CEO)]
* [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol5/lonberg.html profile and reviews (Piero Scaruffi)]