"...Lundbom is one of these players with his foot firmly in the rock camp, but with plenty of the grit of jazz to keep things interesting. With Big Five Chord, the mid-20ish Lundbom and his associates convince that fusion can mean something appetizing in the 21st Century with a seven-composition program that romps, serenades, and well, rocks... Though Lundbom is quite an instrumentalist considering his age, he isn’t out to open his hefty bag of skills with each turn... Rather, this is a group effort and his partners are more than happy to come along for the ride... Big Five Chord is further evidence that guitar-focused music can provide thoughtful, yet thrilling results and that Lundbom is off to a fine start." Jay Collins, One Final Note
“In the same manner that each new class of art kids continually redefines the boundaries of ‘experimental’ processes, Jon Lundbom and his crew opt for a far more structured approach to jazz fusion...guitarist Lundbom slowly plucks in a different direction, pushing complicated harmonies that would be right at home as the opening cluster of a Webern work. Each musician works from a different angle here, but the delicate menagerie remains solid, even when both sax players take their sultry mid-Twentieth Century solos over Lundbom's near-microtonal (and often near-metal) independence... Once you've experienced his music, this will make perfect sense -- his combination of instinct and formal training is evident throughout the disc.” Dave Madden, Splendid
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"Jon Lundbom creates much more than he destroys, though if music was your sandcastle he'd be the kid with the shovel." Aaron Wolfe
Guitarist and composer Jon Lundbom currently resides in New York City. He leads his band, Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord, with which he has released two albums; he also co-leads The Jon Lundbom/Bryan Murray Quartet with tenor saxophonist Bryan Murray. As a sideman, Jon performs regularly with Jason Liebman & the Uprising, Wolfe & the Wayside, and Aaron Irwin’s Viscous World Project, as well as with Stuart d’Arrietta’s ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano – The Music of Tom Waits.’ He has also collaborated extensively with performance artist Julia May Jonas (Nellie Tinder). Jon released his latest Big Five Chord album, “All the Pretty Ponies,” in December 2005, live at Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Originally hailing from the suburbs of Chicago, Jon began playing guitar in the second grade, more seriously as a young teenager. After years of performing in and around his hometown and a brief tour of Europe, Jon moved to Chicago proper to attend the Jazz Studies program at DePaul University. There he studied Jazz guitar with Bob Palmieri, classical guitar with Mark Maxwell, and improvisation with Larry Novak, Larry Gray, Alan Swain, and others. Also, while at DePaul, Jon studied classical composition with Drs. George Flynn, Kurt Westerburg, and Jeff Kowalkowski (of Jack the Dog).
As Jon's interests in twentieth-century classical music and more advanced forms of improvisation developed, his music became increasingly informed by non-linear complexity and open improvisational structures. While at DePaul, Jon maintained an active performance schedule, performing frequently under his own name in and around Chicago. He also, along with cellist and composer Andrew Morgan, co-founded both the DePaul University Avant-Garde Music Society and (with guitarist Aaron Solomon) the Seven Days of Stockhausen improvisation collective. Jon also performed or recorded alongside such renowned musicians as Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell, Ken Vandermark, Fred Lomberg-Holm, Eric Leonardsen, Laurie Lee-Moses, and Bob Falesch.
Upon graduation, Jon relocated to New York City and began performing on the Jazz and improvised music scenes while studying with guitarists such as John Scofield, Ben Monder, and Steve Cardenas. Eventually, Jon began attending the Master's program at the Manhattan School of Music. At MSM, Jon studied privately with Jack Wilkins, as well as with David Liebman, Chris Rosenberg, and Phil Markowitz, to name a few. Jon left MSM after a semester, however, and began pursuing his own music toward the release of his debut recording, “Big Five Chord.”
”Big Five Chord” features long-time friend and fellow Chicago native Jon Irabagon on alto saxophone, along with Dominic Lalli on tenor saxophone, Moppa Elliott on bass, and Justin Walke on drums. The album was recorded at Vibromonk Studios in Brooklyn, NY, by Tamir Muskat (Firewater, Big Lazy, Gogol Bordello); mastered by two-time Grammy-award-winner Seth Foster; and released in association with For the Artist Records. It is available through NorthCountry Distribution (www.cadencebuilding.com). Since the release of “Big Five Chord,” Jon has performed to consistently-increasing audiences at NYC venues such as Tonic, the 55 Bar, the Knitting Factory, Galapagos, the C-Note, and both Jimmy’s and CB’s Gallery for Dee Pop’s Freestyle Jazz.
Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord’s sophomore recording, “All the Pretty Ponies,” was recorded live in New York in Fall of 2004. It features Jon Irabagon on alto saxophone and Moppa Elliott on bass in addition to Bryan Murray on tenor saxophone and Andrew Bain on drums. The album was edited by Charles Lipper and, again, mastered by Seth Foster. It is also available through NorthCountry Distribution.
For more information, please visit www.jonlundbom.com.
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