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 Immediate Sound Series in Chicago in June which was recorded and released as “Bastard String,” then with a US tour in November.

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.

The band’s second record “Mechanisms” is slated for release on Clean Feed Records, and will be available in time for their next North American tour from April 1st-8th, 2012.

Albums

PRESS

Ballister is named after a crossbow, and they put a premium on aggression. There’s a freshness and sense of discovery in their wide-ranging music.  But there’s also a deep and hard-earned understanding between these players which enables them to build tension to the point of shattering, and then surf gracefully upon the shards. 
-Bill Meyer DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE

Let’s hope that those who were at the Hideout in Chicago on June 16th of last year have sufficiently recovered in the meantime, because based on this live recording, they must at least have had their eyebrows scorched off. 
-Guy Peters FREEJAZZ.ORG

As with all excellent improvisation, the process is seamless, whether the trio is intertwining the cellist’s electronics with the drummer’s ride cymbal or whether they are burning up the stage to some old school energy jazz. The illusion created here is of controlled chaos where themes emerge from the wall of energy and the band directs the current.
-Mark Corrotto ALLABOUTJAZZ