Jazz Articles about Ben Monder

Ben Monder On the Side: Brian Charette & Mika Pohjola

by Laurel Gross
January 17, 2010

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. ...

Jacám Manricks: Labyrinth

by AAJ Italy Staff
September 17, 2009

Jacám Manricks costruisce il suo labirinto sonoro con la voglia di condurci attraverso un viaggio originale, certamente sofisticato e stimolante. Labyrinth scorre attraverso otto composizioni, che l'artista australiano crea servendosi di un ricco ventaglio di soluzioni personali (sax, clarinetto e flauto) e di quattro interpreti scelti in maniera accurata. In tal senso risultano particolarmente indovinate le presenze di Jacob Sacks al piano, che si distingue per la grande duttilità espressiva, e del chitarrista Ben Monder, capace di cambiare totalmente volto ...

Theo Bleckmann - Ben Monder: At Night

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 28, 2008

L'album si intitola At Night, ed effettivamente le atmosfere sono notturne. I brani si muovono in prevalenza su mezzi tempi, con strutture delicate ed eteree. Tuttavia ci sembra che l'elemento unificante dell'album, la sua identità più vera e profonda, non sia tanto la notte, quanto la musica degli anni '70. Suoni di chitarra saturi e sperimentazioni sulla voce. Ed è forse questo il limite principale dell'album. Il richiamo agli anni '70 non si limita infatti ad un gusto vagamente retro, ...

Ben Monder: Dust

by James Taylor
August 1, 2006

Guitarist Ben Monder's sophomore effort, originally recorded for Arabesque in 1997 and now reissued by Sunnyside, covers all the ground from free, ambient and discordant to tight, together and melodically upbeat.

Most of Monder's work (in fact, much of his best work) has been as a sideman; he has only released two albums as a leader since this record first came out. A veteran of Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band and Lee Konitz's New Nonet, Monder plays with an old ...

Ben Monder: Excavation

by Chris May
July 28, 2006

There may be five years and several thousand miles between them, but Ben Monder's Excavation is the mirror image of Bright Side, the most recent album by Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel.

It's a dark mirror, though, cracked and clouded. Both discs feature technically phenomenal musicians, each an adventurous improviser who gives equal weight to precisely arranged, often complex, through-composition--but while Muthspiel's aptly named Bright Side (2006) takes the listener down sunny, well lit paths, Excavation (2000, re-released) heads for edgier, ...

Ben Monder: Surprise from Cohesion

by Paul Olson
February 6, 2006

After twenty years in New York City, guitarist Ben Monder has played with, well, everyone: Paul Motian, Guillermo Klein, Tim Berne, Jack McDuff, Lee Konitz, Maria Schneider, and a plethora of other notables. At the same time, he's been quietly creating some outstanding work as a leader, fronting his own trio and quartet and releasing, to date, four CDs under his own name. The ultimate example of the musician's musician, Monder seems to be almost universally praised and respected by ...

Ben Monder: Oceana

by AAJ Staff
October 27, 2005

As much an experience in hypnotic textures as a voyage through aquatic depths, Ben Monder's Oceana captures an essential mood and holds it for a full seventy minutes. That's no small feat, but the guitarist wisely works with four other talented musicians who ably intuit his vision in order to help make it happen. Notably absent from this effort is drummer Jim Black, who appeared on Monder's four previous releases, but Ted Poor steps in and provides the right combination ...