Fred Lonberg-Holm
CoPAC and the Shaking Ray Levi Society will present Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra on
Monday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. at Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave. Tickets are $10 in advance or at the door.
Review for Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra:
Named “a top cellist in creative music” by Allmusic, Fred Lonberg-Holm is the hardest working musician in Chicago, who can effortlessly navigate between the worlds of classical music, jazz, rock, pop, country and free improvisation. He’s a bandleader (Valentine Trio, Lightbox Orchestra, Fred Lonberg-Holm Trio), a member of acclaimed, challenging groups like Vox Arcana, Ballister and Ken Vandermark’s Vandermark 5 and a collaborator with legendary jazz giants Joe McPhee, Peter Brötzmann and Anthony Braxton. Lonberg-Holm is also a session musician who has contributed to hundreds of releases, including Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco, and releases by Superchunk, U.S. Maple, Smog, Freakwater, Ryley Walker, Califone, Jim O’Rourke and countless others.
As the conductor of the Lightbox Orchestra, Lonberg-Holm leads an ensemble of performers by holding up a card with a picture or word (for example, the word “SLAM” or a drawing of a cocktail) and turning on one or more lights, each of which corresponds to a different performer. If the player’s light is on, the musician must play according to his or her own interpretation of the card.
The Feb. 8 show at Barking Legs Theater will feature two sets: a solo performance by Lonberg-Holm, followed by a performance by the Lightbox Orchestra comprised of 10 local and regional improvising musicians and dancers.