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Ben Wendel With Gilad Hekselman: October
by Mike Jacobs
Ben Wendel's 2015 The Seasons was initially a video-only project featuring the saxophonist in a different duet for each month of the year. The project was so successful, it later spawned a tour and a studio album [The Seasons (Motéma Music, 2018)] that featured Aaron Parks, Gilad Hekselman, Matt Brewer and Eric Harland. “October," with guitarist Hekselman, was a highlight of the original 12 duets for its seamless and inventive use of real-time technology--not to mention that it's pretty darn catchy.
Continue ReadingA Few More of My Favorite 2024 Jazz Things - Part 3
by Ludovico Granvassu
Enjoy the third installment of our “fall edition" of favorite tunes from the past few months.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Ben Wendel “I Saw You Say" Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard (Edition) 0:16 Host talks 8:05 Ayumi Ishito “Sugar High People" Wondercult Club (577) 8:57 Host talks 13:14 Jake Long “Swamp" City Swamp (New Soil) 14:02 Søren Skov Orbit “Adrift" Adrift (Frederiksberg) 24:16 Host talks 26:11 ...
Continue ReadingPascal Le Boeuf: Ritual Being
by Angelo Leonardi
Come il fratello gemello--il sassofonista Remy--anche Pascal Le Boeuf affianca al talento strumentale (di pianista) alte doti di scrittura per ampi organici. Dopo i primi lavori in gruppi condivisi, i due hanno espresso proprie individualità. Il primo s'è imposto tra i protagonisti della nuova orchestrazione jazzistica pubblicando Assembly of Shadows e Architecture of Storms. Il secondo ha dato vita ad altri progetti, tra cui il trio con Linda May Han Oh e Justin Brown (Pascal's Triangle, 2013), le collaborazioni col ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel: All One
by Claudio Bonomi
Classe 1976, canadese di nascita, cresciuto a Los Angeles e attualmente residente a Brooklyn (New York), Ben Wendel è considerato un astro nascente del jazz contemporaneo da diversi anni. Sassofonista e compositore, oltre ad essere stato nel 2001 tra i fondatori dei Kneebody, si è costruito negli anni una solida reputazione di solista e leader firmando ben sette album che hanno suscitato l'attenzione di pubblico e critica. Questo All One non fa eccezione. È stato concepito in tempi ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel: All One
by Jerome Wilson
Saxophonist Ben Wendel came up with a unique approach for this album of duets. He plays with a different musician on each of these six tracks, but while his guests stick to their primary instruments, Wendel fills in the space around them with multiple saxophone and bassoon parts, electronic effects, and percussion. The most conventional results of this approach are heard in the two vocal tracks. Cecile McLorin Salvant's sensitive singing on “I Loves You Porgy" and Jose ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel On 'The Unspeakable Truths' That Are Passed Between Musicians
by Leo Sidran
For saxophonist Ben Wendel, the pandemic provided the space for him to develop his latest solo record, All One (Edition Records), a project that is both very solitary and very collaborative. It features a woodwind choir of saxophones and bassoons performed entirely by Ben, and then joined by special guests like singers Cecile McLorin Salvant and Jose James, guitarist Bill Frisell, and trumpeter Terence Blanchard.Wendel is no stranger to experimentation or to collaboration. As a member of the ...
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