Dave Rempis (alto/baritone saxophone)
Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello)
Paal Nilssen-Love (drums)

Ballister ANNOUNCES A NEW CD AND NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

Ballister is happy to announce the release of their second cd "Mechanisms" on Clean Feed Records, set to coincide with a seven-concert North American Tour in April. Featuring Chicagoans Dave Rempis (saxophones), and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), alongside famed Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, the tour promises to be one of the highlights of the spring season for fans of jazz and improvised music.

This free-wheeling trio was an idea discussed for several years by the band members before they eventually met at a closed session in 2009. Since the session felt great, they went ahead with some live dates in 2010, first with a concert on the Hideout's Immediate Sound Series in Chicago that June, which was recorded and released as "Bastard String". Their first US tour followed in November of that year, and the new cd was recorded live on the last date of that tour, once again at The Hideout.

As fans of the music will recognize, this is inevitably a hard-hitting group. The unabashed energy of Rempis and Nilssen-Love, 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.

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ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Over the last decade, Dave Rempis has emerged as one of the most active young players in the Chicago jazz and improvised music scene. Rempis graduated from Northwestern University in 1997 with a degree in anthropology, focusing in ethnomusicology, and a year spent at the University of Ghana, Legon in 1995-96. Since 1998, his work with the Vandermark Five as the "other" saxophonist established him as one of the definitive voices of his generation, and provided him the opportunity to perform extensively in clubs, concert halls, and festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. His own groups, including the Rempis Percussion Quartet, Triage, The Engines, The Rempis/Rosaly Duo, and The Dave Rempis Quartet, have toured regularly throughout Europe and North America, and have been documented on the Okkadisk, 482 Music, Solitaire, Utech, and Not Two record labels. In addition to these groups, Rempis plays regularly with Ken Vandermark's Territory Band, The Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Quintet, The Outskirts, and the Rempis/Bishop/ Kessler/Zerang Quartet. His frequent ad hoc collaborations have included performances with Roscoe Mitchell, Paul Lytton, Axel Doerner, Joe McPhee, Nels Cline, Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Kevin Drumm, Tony Buck, and David Stackenas. Rempis has been named a Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in both the alto and baritone saxophone categories in the annual Downbeat Magazine International Critics' Poll. As a founding member of the Chicago presenters' collective Umbrella Music, Rempis also curates a weekly concert series at Elastic Arts, as well as the annual Umbrella Music Festival, now in its seventh year. Separately, he is also a lead organizer of the indie-rock Pitchfork Music Festival.

Quixotic cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm has played and studied music in a variety of situations from the Juilliard School to the gutter. Primary projects include his Valentine Trio, the Friction Brothers and The Lightbox Orchestra. He also currently plays in groups led by Joe McPhee (Survival Unit III), Peter Brötzmann (Chicago 10tet), and Ken Vandermark (Vandermark 5, Frame 4tet, Territory Band) as well as numerous one off "ad-hoc" or infrequently convening ensembles. Improvisers he has worked with include John Butcher, Wilbert de Joode, Axel Doerner, Mats Gustafsson, Charlotte Hug, Glenn Kotche, Peter Kowald, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, David Stackenas, Ben Vida, and Michael Zerang. Over the years he has been credited for work on dozens of jazz, rock, pop, contemporary classical and country records, including those by The Boxhead Ensemble, Wilco, Freakwater, US Maple, Guillermo Gregorio, God Is My Co-Pilot, Anthony Coleman, Jim O'Rourke, Bobby Conn, The Flying Luttenbachers, and ZU.

Norwegian phenom Paal Nilssen-Love has established himself over the last decade as one of the most important voices in improvised music from his generation. A powerful drummer of unbounded energy, he shows an ongoing ability to break physical and musical boundaries on his continual hunt for new collaborations and experiences. Currently, Nilssen-Love is active with musicians such as Mats Gustafsson, Peter Brötzmann, Ken Vandermark, Evan Parker, Sten Sandell, Otomo Yoshihide and Frode Gjerstad. Some of the world-renowned groups he performs with include The Thing, Atomic, Brötzmann/Kondo/Pupillo/Nilssen-Love, and The Vandermark/Nilssen-Love Duo. Paal spends nearly 10 months each year on the road, performing and recording with the many groups of which he is an integral part. He's also active as a presenter in Oslo, as an organizer of the All Ears Festival each January.