★★★
“Lundbom’s burning improvisation hits viscerally, zipping past the cerebrum and heading straight for the groin. The manner in which hip-grinding cadence meets outsider extemporization on ‘Three Plus’ and ‘Booberonic’ needs no intellectual evaluation to appreciate, and a free-jazz take on banjoist Frank Littig’s ‘Fussing Blues’ bypasses rationality entirely. Forget the schematics and simply enjoy ‘Harder on the Outside’ as gut music.”
Ted Parkinson, ‘The Whole Note’ March 2019
“‘Harder on the Outside’ is intense, aggressive, fun and solidly grooving. It is a combination of hardcore/alternative fusion with solid beats and free-form soloing. …The beats are seriously heavy and the playing is intense.”
Mike Greenblatt, ‘The Aquarian Weekly: Rant ‘n’ Roll’ 02/20/19
“Strange, exhilarating, ambiguous, adventurous, totally different from anything else out there, and stunningly staggering in its implications of genre manipulation… Lundbom sounds like John Scofield on steroids…getting down like Sonny Sharrock when the late avantfunk guitarist was in Miles Davis’s band. …This is one daring project!”
Dee Dee McNeil, ‘Musical Memoirs’ 01/10/19
“Lundbom’s guitar floats above this storm of music like a rainbow. …Here is Avant-garde, experimental jazz at its best, showcasing expansive creativity with strong improvisation. The Big Five Chord group [sic] exhibits combustible ideas. …This group pushes the musical boundaries and, in the process, expands visions and possibilities. …Lundbom’s guitar and the horns dance like helium balloons in the wind.”
Kevin Coultas, ‘In On the Corner’ 02/10/19
“‘Harder on the Outside’ is the sound of old friends having a blast making music, which ultimately is what it’s all about. The unique creative process used to produce HotO seems to have rejuvenated Big Five Chord seeing as all involved delivered terrific performances. It would come as no surprise to see this approach used more and more in the future, given the success here.”
Joseph Neff, ‘The Vinyl District’ 02/07/19
Rating: A
“This is Lundbom’s show…and his versatility spans from a clean jazzy tone to moments reminiscent of John Scofield to distorted crunch.”
Nate Chinen, ‘WBGO.org’ 01/28/19
“Big Five Chord is a resolutely new band that often calls back to an old sound… Lundbom, a smartly unruly guitarist…conveys the rangy gusto inherent to this crew.”
Mark Corroto, ‘All About Jazz’ 01/31/19
★★★★½
“Jazz-and-not-jazz, like Miles Davis affected in his transitional years between his second great quintet to jazz/rock fusion. But then again, it’s not that at all. …Lundbom delivers cogent rock and irresistible jazz music…some rip, tear, crunchy guitar. …Without bragging Lundbom tells us that each composition here can be the focal point of your attention.”
S. Victor Aaron, ‘Something Else!’ 01/24/19
“Austin-based gonzo jazz guitarist Jon Lundbom…continues along an evolutionary path that nonetheless holds true to his post bop/hard rock/funk ideology and audacious outlook. …Lundbom’s in-your-face brand of bop is manifest… [Big Five Chord plays] with abandon, precision, or a combination of both; it’s always right for the situation and never hackneyed. Playing creative and sometimes complex stuff but always with a wink or a smirk, they never take themselves too seriously.”
Chris Spector, ‘Midwest Record’ 12/28/18
“Once again knowing when to apply the brakes, Lundbom and crew know how to take it over the top but keep the wheels from flying off the rails. Wild and wacky free jazz that ambles all over the yard at high speed, if only all freebop could be like this. A real snootful for the progressive jazzbo that isn’t hipper than thou.”