Avant-Jazz Guitar Etc
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
“Lundbom doesn’t stop, churning out a new release practically every year. And why should he, since the 13-year old Big Five Chord…continues to do exciting things with the guitarist’s sometimes audacious compositions.”
“Lundbom brings together his Big Five Chord band for a pair of EPs that mix flexibility and swing… While the sound is loose, it’s never incoherent and disarrayed… [JL&BVC] walk the tightrope without a net, teetering but never falling on this white knuckler of joy.”
“If I make a point of covering everything JL&BVC comes out with, it is because the music they make is simply and OBJECTIVELY wonderful. …[‘Make the Magic Happen’] is a rousing start to things. As important as anything [JL&BVC has] put our way and some Lundbom guitar that will get you searching your pockets for a pick with play air guitar with. In short, excellent music!”
★★★★
“Chromatic passages mixing it up with free-funk motives and a gradual and well-worked development of the material that eventually leads to a noise based saturation point. The phrasing in [Lundbom’s] playing is a real joy and the way it sits within the rhythm will have you toe tapping before the track is out, worth getting just for [‘Ain’t Cha’]. …The emphasis is clearly on the tracks as a vehicle for improvised solo melodic lines and there is plenty of space for each of the soloists to stretch out and express themselves. …There is some great playing from the guitarist across these two EPs.”
★★★★
“BVC expertly juggles boisterousness and refinement in an atmosphere of controlled chaos. …Lundbom is a master of animated and intensely concentrated improvisation and his playing is capable of producing a full range of moods. …JL&BVC tread dangerous waters on their recordings. The cooperative nature of improvisations and the willingness to play outside the formal limits of jazz, combined with touches of humor all make for challenging navigation. Nevertheless, they pull it off with largely successful results. If ‘Make Magic Happen’ [sic] is an indication of the upcoming EPs in the larger collection, it promises to be one of the significant music events of the year.”
“Sounds church basement walls could not contain. This bunch has set sail for Mars and they’ve left enough room in their starship for you to join them.”
★★★★★
“One of the most adventurous, schizoid, raucous, rip-roaring rock/jazz/bass-and-drum-thumping/wild-men-at-the saxophones wailing/soaring guitar amalgams you’ll hear in modern music. …There is an underlying tightness and continuity of vision that holds this set together. …Odd and innovative, and compelling. Music that hits you in the gut.”