An Avant-Garde Road to Expression - Bardfeld, Fonda and Altschul's -"Hurtling Between"

Sam Bardfeld, Joe Fonda and Barry Altschul-BFA Trio-Hurtling Between-Fundacja Sluchaj Music

The violinist Sam Bardfeld has been seen playing violin and coordinating larger string sections for popular rock group acts like Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, and Elvis Costello. His history, however, has revealed a more avant-garde penchant. Bardfeld has found more expansive avenues for his musical expression with adventurous artists like Anthony Braxton, with the late trombonist Curtis Fowlkes’ Jazz Passengers or with Steven Bernstein's  Millennial Territory Orchestra. Following that inclination, the violinist recently teamed up with two iconic players of the free jazz world, double bassist Joe Fonda and drummer/percussionist Barry Altschul.

Joe Fonda, Sam Bardfeld and Barry Altschul (photo credit unknown)

A short look at Joe Fonda’s diverse double bass musical history includes his work with pianist/composer Carla Bley, the saxophonists Anthony Braxton and Archie Shepp, as well some creative work with the trumpeters Dave Douglas and Wadada Leo Smith. 

Likewise, drummer Barry Altschul’s propulsive percussion has been an important part of work with the likes of pianist Paul Bley, and as a member of Chick Corea’s forward-looking Circle Group with multi-reedist Braxton and master bassist Dave Holland, to name just a few. Fonda and Altschul have been probing the cutting edge of the avant-garde jazz world for the last half-century.

In 2003, Fonda and Altschul found common cause with the progressive violinist Billy Bang. The three became enamored with their intuitive, improvisational free association. To these three adventurers, this approach to improvisational jazz was aligned to their vision of creativity. The three formed the influential, but sadly short-lived, FAB (Fonda, Altschul and Bang) Trio, performing from 2003 through Bang’s transition in 2011. 

FAB Trio: Billy Bang, Barry Altschul and Joe Fonda (Photo credit unknown)

Fast forward to 2026. This latest group BFA (Bardfeld, Fonda and Altschul) picks up where the former trio had last left off. Bardfeld plays with a raucous, folk-inspired, sometimes humorous sense of abandon. Bill Milkowski likened his style to a mixture of “… a Stuff Smith playfulness with a Charles Ives aesthetic…”!  It’s no wonder why Fonda and Altshcul found this like-minded soul to be an artist that they could have common ground and make music with. The BFA Trio’s first release, Hurtling Between, is to be released on the Polish label Fundacja Sluchaj this late October.

The release features seven compositions, two by Altschul which bookend this album. The opener “Martin’s Stew” is a dedication to fellow American drummer Stu Martin. Martin’s career ran the spectrum- from big bands led by Basie, Ellington and Quincy Jones, to backing post-bop giants like Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock, and into creative work with modernists like multi-reedist John Surman, bassist Barre Phillips and pianist/composer Carla Bley. The trio takes a free flow interactive approach to communicate their musical message, and while it may lose some listeners in what appears to be disorder, dissonance or randomness, there is an intuitive order to these three and how the interact. Even when the direction of a composition seems tentative. Even when the boundaries seem at times silky. This trio somehow always stay complimentary and on the same wavelength. 

“Ida Lupino”, my favorite from this album, is a revered Carla Bley composition with an Americana hymn-like feel to it. The song was previously played as a trio with Altschul on Paul Bley’s album Closer from 1966 with Steve Swallow on bass. Here it opens with a bowed drone by Fonda, as Bardfeld tickles the strings with creative, expansive lines before the music swings into the repeating melody. The easy sway is playful, energetic and propelled by Altschul’s cyclonic percussion. Fonda offers a probing solo and there is a beautiful intuitive interaction here that reveals the possibilities that these three can create. 

Julius Hemphill was an alto saxophonist that Altschul also played with in 1975 on Hemphill’s album Coon Bid ’ness. Bardfeld connection to this music comes from him being a member of the Hemphill Stringtet that was formed in 2022 . They released this tribute album as an all-string quartet, The Hemphill Stringtet Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill, in 2025. “C”, Hemphill's composition on this album, is a blues-based piece. The trio takes off at the opening setting at a blistering pace, held together by the frenetic pizzicato of Fonda, the often tumultuous drum work of Altschul, and the kinetically charged violin work by Bardfeld.

Sam Bardfeld (photo credit unknown)

The trio collectively create “Hippie Sh*t Could Set Us Free” another piece of music born out of free association. Fonda is on flute on this one, where he creates bird-inspired chirps. Bardfeld’s violin creates eerie, glassy squeals, and Altschul’s percussive accents punctuate the action deftly. The music ends with a sustained, medium-pitched metallic, almost gong-like wash to a fade.

The cover composition is Bardfeld’s “Hurtling Between” opens with Fonda’s strong ostinato bass lines, as Bardfield’s violin states the jagged, repeating melodic line. The music swells with turbulent drumming, explosive double bass pizzicato, and a violin that seems bent on playing with dissonant abandon. There is a sense of these three musicians being caught in a dervish whirlwind of their own making. It is not likely to leave you either calm or unagitated, but if you can imagine being caught in a tornado-like gust and being hurtled around like a rag doll, than this will  aural soundtrack will neatly compliment the cinematic experience you can imagine in your mind's eye.

Barry Altschul and Joe Fonda photo credit Guy de poel

Joe Fonda’s composition “G.S. #2” is a tribute to drummer George Schuller. Schuller is the son of the famous composer/educator/conductor Gunther Schuller who coined the concept of “Third Stream” music; the integration of classical techniques to jazz sensibilities. Fonda's opening bass solo is so resonant, pliant, and fluid. In just over one minute this virtuoso treats the listener to a feast of tones, attacks and aural possibilities that double bass under can evoke. Bardfeld adds his own artful attack to the mix, humanizing the violin with eerie, moan-like sounds that hang in the air. Altschul provides one of the most tumultuous solos on the album. His kit is alive, erupting with kinetic energy. A percussive cauldron that percolates, simmers and at times boils over.The trio ends in a unified conclusion.

The album ends with another Altschul composition, “Be Out School.” A playful, humorous tune that conjures up three sandbox occupants that are free to create their own entertainment. Boys will be boys. These three rollick with the realization that they are suddenly free of boundaries. Free jazz has that sense of having no limits and Bardfeld is clearly the instigator on this one. His violin boisterously taunts dissonantly. He challenges his bandmates to take a jump into the unknown. Fonda responds in kind with authority and defiance offering his own jagged response. Altschul percolates slowly, at first in tandem with his bandmates, and then with his own cantankerous response of being 'all in' on this romp. No one is going home unscathed here. Like three rough-house kids, hair all askew and 'best to school' clothing torn and soiled, there will be a price to pay. But these ruffians don't seem to mind, they have a wide smile on their face and the feeling is infectious. Pure 'out of school' fun.