“They come out loud, making up in attitude what they sacrifice in coherence. B”
Hank Shteamer, ‘Time Out New York’
“Big! Five Chord has more muscle than your average jazz-rock project: Guitarist Jon Lundbom’s spiky riffs skronk alongside keening sax lines from Jon Irabagon – one of the city’s most deadly hornmen…”
Dave Madden, ‘SLUG Magazine’
“Somewhere down the road from the Knitting Factory, on the outskirts of 70s stadium rock, you’ll find Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord, a crew once again proving that jazz isn’t dead – it’s just getting started! This live recording finds the band letting loose in the city (New York), completely unrestrained and bouncing between free jazz and 60s bop masters. …the crew walks a line of structural retention and freedom from the original works that fuses a healthy dose of virtuosic improvisation with an uncanny ability to come back to center before wandering too far into the cosmos.”
Glenn Astarita, ‘All About Jazz’
“Chicago-reared and now an active participant in New York City’s improvising scene, guitarist Jon Lundbom fuses avant-garde, jazz-rock scenarios with odd-metered rhythms and more. The quintet is augmented by the twin sax attack of Bryan Murray and Jon Irabagon, whereas Lundbom occasionally puts the pedal to the metal. But there’s quite a bit of improvisational forays based upon the soloists’ interweaving lines and soaring momentum along with a cavalcade of variables. At times, the band tosses in notions of angst and shock-therapy to coincide with its semi-loud modus operandi. Fans of New York City’s wily downtown scene should welcome this outing with open arms!”
Phillip McNally, ‘Cadence’
“On the much heavier side of fusion, Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord crank out what I have to call heavy metal Jazz on All the Pretty Ponies. This is a power 5tet with the Blues influence of Ulmer on its mind, but even when the two saxes blow fiercely out, the emphasis is on Lundbom’s scorching guitar…and at their best moments, the 5tet achieves something like a harmolodic looseness.”