"Erik Friedlander can do things with a cello that should have a reasonable listener fearing for her life," says PitchforkMedia.com,

"Rostropovich one second and Rottweiler the next." Cellist Erik Friedlander, a virtuosic veteran of NYC's downtown scene, has backed John Zorn, Laurie Anderson and Courtney Love. New York's Erik Friedlander is a composer and an improviser, a classical musician and a jazzbo. He has recorded 8 CD's as a leader and has always worked to stake out new ground for the cello in both his compositional choices and his dynamic improvising style. Whether its 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. He is the son of Lee Friedlander, the photographer known by musicians and jazz aficionados for the cover photographs he took for Atlantic Records.

Erik was born in New York City in 1960 and grew up in suburban Rockland County, son of the noted artist Lee Friedlander. Along with photographers Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand, Lee is recognized as one of the best street photographers of the 1960s. His work can be found in museums around the world. But Lee is also known by musicians and jazz aficionados for the cover photos he took for Atlantic Records. His passion for r&b and jazz greatly influenced Erik, whose earliest memories are of a household filled with the sounds of his father's subjects--Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, McCoy Tyner, Ornette Coleman, and John Coltrane.

Erik started playing guitar at age 6 and added cello two years later. He began formal lessons at age 12. Erik continued his musical studies at Columbia University in 1978. Upon graduation, he spent the next decade refining his cello technique through long hours of practice, supporting himself by playing in various orchestras and Broadway shows, recording commercial music for jingles and movies, and doing session work with artists like Laurie Anderson, Courtney Love's Hole, and Dar Williams. He also started his first small groups and made his first recordings. Erik came into his own in the 1990s as he became an integral part of NYC's downtown jazz scene receiving notices in publications like the Boston Globe, The Wire, and Billboard which wrote, "Friedlander [is] one of today's most ingenious and forward-thinking musical practitioners."

He has always worked to stake out new ground for the cello in both his compositional choices and his dynamic improvising style. His music blends his vision of what the cello can be pushed to do, while maintaining a firm grasp on traditions, both improvising and classical.

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