| The Flying Luttenbachers | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Associated Acts: | Various |
| Website: | Official site |
| Current Members: | Weasel Walter, drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, woodwinds, electronics, main composer Charlie Werber, drums (2022-present) Luke Polipnick, bass guitar (2023-present) |
| Past Members: | Hal Russell, tenor and soprano saxes, trumpet, vibraphone, drums, co founder (1991-1992) Chad Organ, tenor sax, moog synthesizer, baritone sax (1992-1994) Ken Vandermark, tenor sax, Bb and bass clarinets (1992-1994) Jeb Bishop, bass, Casio keyboard, trombone (1993-1994, 2022) Dylan Posa, guitar, Casio keyboard (1993-1994, 1998) Chuck Falzone, guitar, bass (1995-1998) William Pisarri, bass, Bb clarinet, voice, etc. (1995-1998) Aaron Dilloway, drums (1997) Kurt Johnson, bass, contrabass (1998-2000) Michael Colligan, tenor sax, Bb and alto clarinets, etc. (1998-2000) Julie Pomerleau, violin (1998) Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello (1998-2000) Alex Perkolup, bass (2001-2002, 2022) Jonathan Hischke, bass (2001-2002) Ed Rodriguez, guitar, bass (2003-2006) Mike Green, bass (2003-2005, 2006) Mick Barr, guitar, bass (2005) Rob Pumpelly, guitar, bass (2006) Tony Dryer, bass (2006) Chris Welcome, guitar (2017) Evan Lipson, bass (2018) Brandon Seabrook, guitar (2018-2019) Henry Kaiser, guitar (2007, 2019) Wendy Eisenberg, guitar (2019) Tim Dahl, bass (2017-2021) Matt Nelson, tenor sax (2018-2021) Alex Ward, guitar (2019) Katie Battistoni, guitar (2019-2021) Sam Ospovat, drums (2020-2021) |
The Flying Luttenbachers are an American instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser and producer Weasel Walter.[1]
The Flying Luttenbachers have created a body of work focused on musical extremity and dissonance. Their music ranges from intense all-acoustic free improvisation to complex and modernistic rock composition, and from electronic noise to punk-inspired jazz.[2] Walter has been quoted as saying he has drawn musical inspiration from the fields of punk, death metal, free jazz, and no wave.[3]
The Flying Luttenbachers formed in December 1991 in Chicago, Illinois, as a punk jazz trio, with Hal Russell (tenor and soprano saxes, trumpet, vibraphone, and drums; co founder), Chad Organ (tenor sax, moog synthesizer, and baritone sax) and Weasel Walter (drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, woodwinds, electronics, and main composer). The band derived their moniker from Russell's birth name, Harold Luttenbacher.[4] Russell left the band in June 1992, and was soon replaced by Ken Vandermark for the recording of The Flying Luttenbachers' first 7″ record.
Since its formation, the band's personnel have changed several times under Walter's leadership. The band has featured several free jazz and experimental rock musicians including Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kurt Johnson, Jeb Bishop, Alex Perkolup, Mick Barr, Ed Rodriguez, Mike Green, and Jonathan Hischke. The Flying Luttenbachers have toured Europe and the US extensively with bands including The Locust, Arab On Radar, Lightning Bolt, U.S. Maple, Erase Errata, Bobby Conn, and Wolf Eyes.
Walter moved from Chicago to Oakland, California, in 2003,[5] and then again to the San Francisco Bay Area.[6] He refreshed The Flying Luttenbachers with the addition of bassist Mike Green, guitarist Ed Rodrigues and later Mick Barr. The band played their final concert in November 2006 before officially disbanding in November 2007 with the release of a studio album (recorded solo by Walter).
In 2017, after a 10-year hiatus, The Flying Luttenbachers reformed, accepting an invitation to play at the Sonic Protest festival.[7] Walter (on drums) was joined by guitarist Chris Welcome and bassist Tim Dahl. The group opened three shows for Oh Sees in October 2018[8] before touring Europe in April 2019.[9]
In 2019, a quartet version of the band released Shattered Dimension. Joining Walter (on drums) was saxophonist Matt Nelson, bassist Tim Dahl, and guitarist Brandon Seabrook. Over the next few years, the band's varying lineup included bassist Evan Lipson; guitarists Henry Kaiser, Wendy Eisenberg, Katie Battistoni, and Alex Ward; and drummer Sam Ospovat.[10]
Since 1996’s Revenge album, the Flying Luttenbachers’ musical output has been underlined by a gradually unravelling storyline concerning the self-obliteration of the planet Earth and the resulting aftermath. The 2006 album Cataclysm concerns an interstellar battle between two monolithic entities: The Void (a dark, silent spectre detailed in 2004’s album of the same name) and The Iridescent Behemoth (a massive planetoid being whose tale was told in 2003’s complex Systems Emerge from Complete Disorder album). The music energetically utilizes deliberate harmonic dissonance and the material operates on a principle of intelligent transformation of concise amounts of interrelated themes.