Erik Friedlander

New York, NY

Billboard

Welcome to Erik Friedlander's VIRB page!

Block Ice EPK

Block Ice & Propane Press

"His remarkable new album, 'Block Ice & Propane,' is a solo cello odyssey that advances his personal synthesis of American roots music." Nate Chinen, New York Times, July 13, 2007
"The avant-cello album of the summer." Ben Sisario, New York Times, July 17, 2007
"A magnificent new solo album." The New Yorker, July 9, 2007
"Friedlander delivers what may be the definitive statement thus far in terms of what the cello can do." Kevin Kampwirth, CMJ.com, August 15, 2007
"Erik Friedlander's 'Block Ice & Propane' is one of the best albums I have heard all year." Largehearted Boy, as reposted by Brooklyn Vegan, August 13, 2007
"As tough-minded and original as it is elegiac." Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix, July 24, 2007
"You never know what cellist Erik Friedlander has up his sleeve." Detroit Free Press, July 26, 2007
"Everyone's (seriously, everyone's) favorite avant-garde cellist is Erik Friedlander. He should be yours too." The L Magazine, July 11, 2007
"He strives for beauty in his playing and writing, and often finds both." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 26, 2007

Erik Friedlander - Bio

"Rostropovich one second and Rottweiler the next." (Pitchfork) Cellist Erik Friedlander is a composer and an improviser, a classical musician and a jazzbo. As a longtime virtuosic veteran of NYC's downtown scene, he's not only backed John Zorn, Laurie Anderson, and Courtney Love, but has also recorded recorded 8 CDs as a leader. His compositional choices and dynamic improvising style have staked out new ground for his instrument. Whether it's solo playing or performing with one of his bands, Friedlander blends his vision of what the cello can be pushed to do, while maintaining a firm grasp on traditions, both improvising and classical. From the beginning, Erik was the beneficiary of a most unusual musical legacy. His father, photographer Lee Friedlander, famous for the cover photos he took for Atlantic Records in the 60s, passed his passion for r&b and jazz to his son. Erik's earliest memories are of a household filled with the sounds of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, McCoy Tyner, Ornette Coleman, and John Coltrane. He's been playing the cello since age 8, and if you have a concept of what that instrument can do, he will reshape it.