Friday April 15 * 7pm * TICKETS
Dave Rempis - saxophones
Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello
PNL (Norway) - drums
plus special guest Luke Stewart (bass)
Ballister is a transatlantic powerhouse. This free-wheeling trio first came together at a closed session in 2009, and as any fan of improvised music can imagine, the band hit hard from the first note and hasn’t looked back since. The unabashed energy of Rempis and PNL, coupled with the electrified cello antics of Lonberg-Holm, make for a powerful listening experience that combines driving grooves with noisy textures and occasional melodic interjections. These sliding and overlapping rhythms often give the music a feeling as if a rug is slowly being pulled out from underneath the listener while the music still maintains a strong forward momentum. Reference points include the Julius Hemphill groups of the 70's and 80's featuring Abdul Wadud, Ornette Coleman's Prime Time, and the early-70's explorations of Miles Davis' electric bands.
The band currently has nine releases under its belt, including Bastard String (self-released, 2010) Mechanisms (Clean Feed Records, 2012) Mi Casa es en Fuego (self-released, 2013), Both Ends (Bocian Records, 2014), Worse For The Wear (Aerophonic Records, 2015), The Ballister Monologues (Astral Spirits, 2015), Slag (Aerophonic Records, 2017), Low Level Stink (Dropa Disc, 2017), and Znachki Stilyag (Aerophonic Records, 2020).
They’ve also toured both North America and Europe extensively in that time.
CHRYSOPOEIA: This new recording was made at a live concert in Krakow, Poland in October 2019, during the band's last European and last pre-pandemic tour. A sister release to 2020's Znachki Stilyag, Chrysopoeia was recorded two days before the Moscow performance documented on that release. And despite the significant history that all three musicians have with the scene in Krakow based around the club Alchemia, it was their first performance there with this trio! Needless to say, it went well. Not Two Records label honcho Marek Winiarski offered to put the concert out on record the moment they walked offstage.