Brooklyn-based guitarist/composer Jon Lundblom and his quintet Big Five Chord play the kind of forward-thinking, boundary-stretching jazz that still manages to sit well on more mainstream ears. Accomplish Jazz (Hot Cup Records), the band’s third album, runs the gamut from contemplative drones to noisy blasts, often within the same tune. Unlike pure free jazz, Lundbom and company start with defined, mostly swing-based grooves and well-wrought melodies, then let the music and mood take them down highly exploratory avenues, which split off into side streets and occasional cul-de-sacs.
This article appears in Dec 23-29, 2009.