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Ben Monder: Amorphous Music
by Nenad Georgievski
Ben Monder is a guitarist with a singular and influential voice. While he has received a great acclaim for his multifaceted work and unparalleled technical facility, Monder has also demonstrated remarkable breadth both as a bandleader and composer. His debut album for ECM Amorphae is a kind of a movie for one's ears. Amorphae consists of a set of beautiful compositions that orchestrate kind of sounds beyond the imagination. Monder's distinctive guitars create a wide range of colors, dynamics and ...
Continue ReadingBlackstar
by Nenad Georgievski
The 10-year long absence from the limelight clearly didn't dim singer David Bowie's sense of guile or invention. That was clearly evident with the sudden reappearance with the utterly brilliant The Next Day which pilot single “Where Are We Now?" appeared from nowhere on his birthday and delighting many people along the way. In a career that has lasted for 50 years, Bowie has always refused to be pigeonholed and with Blackstar that is set to continue. Many years into ...
Continue ReadingBen Monder: Amorphae
by John Kelman
Having made his first--and, up to now, only--appearance on Munich's lauded ECM Records on the late drummer Paul Motian's Garden of Eden (2006), it's certainly taken a long time for the virtuosically talented guitarist to get a date of his own. Monder's résumé--while filled with significant associations including, in addition to Motian, composer/bandleader Maria Schneider, double bassist and occasional ECM label mate Marc Johnson, saxophonist Donny McCaslin (with whom Monder will also appear on the upcoming Black Star by David ...
Continue ReadingBen Monder: Amorphae
by Mark Sullivan
Veteran guitarist Ben Monder is at his most experimental and atmospheric in this collection of largely improvised performances, his sixth album as a leader, and his first for ECM. The genesis of the album came from Monder's 2010 duet sessions with Paul Motian, sadly abbreviated by the legendary drummer's passing. Motian fans can surely be forgiven for wishing there was more than the two tracks included. But one of them is the highlight of the album: the pair revisits Rodgers ...
Continue ReadingBen Monder: Hydra
by Troy Collins
New York-based guitarist Ben Monder has been an active member of the contemporary jazz scene for more than two decades, appearing on over 100 sessions as a sideman for such luminaries as Paul Motian, Maria Schneider and Kenny Wheeler. Despite such prestigious collaborations, Monder has maintained a relatively low profile as a solo artist, with less than half a dozen records as a leader or co-leader to his credit; Oceana, the last release under his own name, was issued by ...
Continue ReadingBen Monder / Bill McHenry: Bloom
by Raul d'Gama Rose
The world of improvised music is a wondrous pursuit, but as soon as the word “composition" creeps into the proceedings, it can have a slightly stricter form. How much form begins to curb spontaneity is entirely up to the musicians. In the case of guitarist Ben Monder and saxophonist Bill McHenry's Bloom, thankfully, the form does not disturb the path of forward-thinking creativity. However, there is enough structure to the duo's music for it to have a strict beginning, middle ...
Continue ReadingBen Monder On the Side: Brian Charette & Mika Pohjola
by Laurel Gross
Brian CharetteUpsideSteepleChase2009 Mika PohjolaNorthern SunriseBlueMusicGroup2009 There's a reason why, at Ben Monder performances, the guitar geeks sit in the first row. He is an outstanding soloist, inventive improviser and composer of highly original and engaging works featured on several of his own recordings. Monder has also proven himself to be the consummate sideman. ...
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