Top Ten Jazz Albums of 2016
“Jon Lundbom and Big Five Chord, 2016: EPs (Hot Cup) – Readers of my blog are well aware of my love affair with this band. Read my review of this collection of 4 EPs here.”
Mark Corroto, ‘All About Jazz’ 12/16/16
Mark Corroto’s Best Releases Of 2016
Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord “2016:EPs” (Hot Cup)
Karl Ackermann, ‘All About Jazz’ 12/08/16
Karl Ackermann’s Best Of 2016
“2016 has proven that jazz and creative music in general, are healthier than ever. …This list is—for the most part—outside the mainstream because that is where artists risk the most to tell their stories; it is where many listeners go to be challenged.”
#2: Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord, ‘2016:EPs’ (Hot Cup Records)
George W. Harris, ‘Jazz Weekly’ 12/01/16
“[Big Five Chord] has a loose and swinging Mingus feel, nimble, yet with moments of left of center freedom… There’s an excellent balance of freedom and form here, with enough order to keep you focused yet a sufficient amount of playfulness to keep you guessing.”
Tim Niland, ‘Music & More’ 11/30/16
11th Annual Francis Davis/4th Annual NPR Jazz Critics Poll Ballot – 10 Best New Releases
3. Jon Lundbom and Big Five Chord – 2016:EPs (Hot Cup, 2016)
Tom Hull, ‘Tom Hull – On the Web’ 11/14/16
The Best Jazz Albums of 2016
61. Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Play All the Notes
62. Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Make the Changes
Honorable Mention [listed alphabetically]
75. Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Bring Their ‘A’ Game
76. Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Make the Magic Happen
Stu Kremski, ‘Mr. Stu’s Record Room’ 11/02/16, ‘IAJRC Journal’ Fall 2016
“More deep fun from Big Five Chord!… Definitely recommended.”
Tim Niland, ‘Music & More’ 10/28/16
“[Each of the ‘2016:EPs’ clocks] in at around twenty five minutes and each one keeps you riveted throughout. This is an excellent group and the music that they play is both high in energy and emotionally engaging, which works well in these short compact bursts of music, and over the long haul.”
Bill Milkowksi, ‘Downbeat’ December 2016
★★★★
“Glimpses into a Grand Vision
While [Lundbom] does occasionally dial up distortion tones and skronk in audacious fashion, he primarily plays with a clean tone, while exhibiting a remarkable fluency and sense of freedom… Lundbom’s obvious love for the melodic free-jazz stylings of Ornette Coleman is apparent from his ambitious and gripping interpretations… Throughout the set, Lundbom draws on his broad experience as a sideman and collaborator to add swathes of color from outside the jazz world. …That sense of drama and narrative carries through to [“2016:EPs”] and the guitarist stakes out some original territory… This is courageous improvising and syncopated swing from a new crew of like-minded renegades.”
Chris Robinson, ‘Outside-Inside-Out’ 10/16/16
“[The ‘2016:EPs’ release strategy] strikes a balance between an older view of the album as larger holistic statement and the contemporary consumption of music in individual portions of digitized bytes. …It’s a strategy I don’t believe I’ve seen before, and it is the foundation for what is arguably one of the finest albums of the year. …[Lundbom’s] music doesn’t foreclose any possibilities or interpretations. They are wide open and offer lots of room for exploration. …Especially compelling is the subtle mix of a variety of grooves and tempos and phrasing, which are often stacked upon or juxtaposed against each other. …The performances and compositions across each EP are of a uniformly high and creative level, and the use of a Coleman tune each in one further unifies the set. This is free jazz…in a way where the common framework and reference point encourages each player to be free to employ a variety of vocabularies and take things in new directions.
…Just because one does not take oneself too seriously does not mean one is not serious. …I find that the group’s irreverence – when combined with its restless creative energy, serious chops, inventiveness, risk taking, and respect for the tradition – is what draws me to their music, and why I find it so compelling. …And that’s what JL&BVC has done yet again: respecting and drawing from tradition while having unique and important individual voices use and warp that tradition to create something fresh. Their aesthetic is not either/or. It’s both/and, and it’s this dialectic relationship that makes Big Five Chord one of the most vital and sparkling groups working today.”