“Nonstop collective aces…crisp, roiling, whimsical, inside/out, stuffed full with good humor… After generously sharing solo space throughout, Lundbom muscles ahead on ferocious live closer ‘Screamer,’ matching wits with Monaghan’s stop/start funk via itchy Blood Ulmer cascade.”
Steve Day, ‘Sandy Brown Jazz’ April 2015
“[JL&BVC] crash and burn their way through the opening track ‘The Bottle’ as if their business is jazz as a new found way of sanctifying the art of harmolodics. …This is music founded in Americana blues and then twisted as surely as right and wrong can become left and right. …It works, as does the whole caboodle. Not your regular prophetic sermon, hell, I didn’t fall asleep in the pew. The Big Chord Five [sic] is the apocalypse gone voodoo. Keep listening.”
CJ Bond, ‘JazMuzic.com’ 03/30/15
“Lundbom is an inveterate seeker; artistically discerning; an astute composer, intently focused with burning creative energy: a highly accomplished guitarist with a finely calibrated sense of destiny who knows how he wants his music to sound; and is able get his creative imagination to respond in kind. …[Big Five Chord] reveals a stunning continuum of bruising, unequaled, rock-hard free jazz from Lundbom’s permanently fierce guitar performances; pushing the demons in improvisational spontaneity and addictive free expression out in the open with piercing clarity. …[Lundbom] is ‘le monstre de free bop.’ He has firm control over power, influence, turbulence and chaos in free bop; urgent conditions starkly reflected in the fascinating and intimate effects of Lundbom’s exploration through the rugged, undulating terrain of ‘Jeremiah’s’ improvisational line. …Whatever the future, Jon Lundbom and Big Five Chord will always be nakedly innovative and unpredictably explosive; but never dull.”
Mark Corrotto, ‘All About Jazz’ 03/29/15
★★★★
“The seventh album by guitarist Jon Lundbom and his septet Big Five Chord leaves little room for fence sitters. His music…walks the razor’s edge between clamorous and cultured. It’s [sic] comfort is often the discombobulation. That said, isn’t that what jazz (real jazz) has always been about?”
Jon Davis, ‘Exposé’ 03/21/15
“Lundbom is a really imaginative guitarist…with a knack for throwing in dissonant chords at just the right times. He’s also no spotlight-hog – everyone contributes here, with outstanding playing from all concerned. Even when venturing into extended techniques, which they all do at times, they avoid being annoying or abrasive… ‘Jeremiah’ is an outstanding album, sure to be one of the year’s most memorable jazz releases.”
‘All About Jazz’ 03/17/15
“This song [‘Screamer’] will mess with your mind. You will need green juice and a lot of outdoor space after listening. More to make you scream tomorrow… The energy captured in this recording is wonderful to hear and the ensemble’s ability to spontaneously interact places them among the most exciting bands working today.”
Peter Margasak, ‘The Chicago Reader’ 03/06/15
“’Jeremiah’ is the latest in a series of impressive albums [Lundbom has] made with [Big Five Chord]… Lundbom’s searching solo [on ‘The Bottle’] has a nice harmonic ambiguity, drifting through the rugged groove with almost staggering force…the group delivers a raucous stream of energy characterized by knotty multilinear improvising; rambunctious solos coalesce and scrap with one another.”
Grego Applegate Edwards, ‘Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog’ 02/18/15
“[Lundbom] is an exceptional electric guitarist who needs to be listened to. He has a jagged style that is out in a linear way but rhythmically outstanding as well. …his guitar wielding is something to hear. …[‘Jeremiah’] is more of the gathering’s remarkable music, evolutionarily modern, a superb outcropping of where things have been going in the realm of advanced ‘jazz.'”
Dave Sumner, ‘Bird is the Worm’ 02/12/15
“Lundbom keeps things moving and keeps it random. His septet, stocked with musicians at home in this environment, help him retain a cohesion over seemingly disassociated parts. Best is when everything gets tangled up in patterns easy to follow and trace.”
Brent Black, ‘Bop-N-Jazz’ 02/09/15
“A meticulously nuanced free jazz attitude with a smoldering hard rock edge…[BVC is] truly one of the finest collectives working the scene. ‘Jeremiah’ is packed with variety and works well as both a cerebral and visceral vehicle of improvisational magic. [Lundbom] is an artistic chameleon… The key to success for ‘Jeremiah’ might simply be in expecting the unexpected yet the musical co-conspirators never get in there [sic] own way…a synergy most bands can only dream of.”