American, Chicago-based cellist Tomeka Reid and Swiss, Lucerne-based tenor and soprano sax player Christoph Erb (and the head of the Veto label) have been collaborating for more than a decade, first in an ad hoc trio with American cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm (Duope, Veto, 2013), and then with The Urge Trio (with American reed player Keefe Jackson), which has released three albums (all by Veto) and toured Europe, Russia, and the United States.
Live at Marmalade is the debut album of Reid and Erb. It was recorded at the musicians-run collective space and studio Marmalade in Chicago in October 2025. This free improvised set featured the 29-minute “Lemon curd” and the 7-minute “Lekvar”, but the music avoided any sweet, dessert-like flavors.
Reid and Erb conducted dense conversations that instantly morphed into heated arguments, and vice versa. The interplay demanded that both Reid and Erb exhaust their sharp instincts and the whole palettes of their instruments, with an array of extended bowing and breathing techniques. Still, the music also radiated a deep sensibility of intimacy that reflected on their shared, quite stormy history and adventurous musical experiences, and encouraged even more risk-taking gestures, but also vocal-like, gentle and passionate melodic threads. It was a spontaneous celebration of many sonic flavors, songs, memories, and experiences.
Christoph Erb / Tomeka Reid – Live at Marmalade (Veto, 2026)
