Jazz Articles about Ben Wendel

Ben Wendel: going forward with a High Heart

by David Bixler
December 11, 2020

Tom Guarna: Spirit Science

by Jack Bowers
November 27, 2020

Guitarist / composer Tom Guarna uses geometric concepts and patterns as a starting point on Spirit Science, his eighth album as leader, pairing its mathematical precision with spiritual awareness to more faithfully represent his musical point of view. Be that as it may, Guarna's handiwork must of course be appraised for its perception and effect on the listener, not for any tenets on which it is based. In other words, when all the premises have been explored, what ...

Oz Noy, Ben Wendel, John Scofield, Garaj Mahal and More

by Len Davis
November 13, 2020

New releases from Richard Hallebeek, Ben Wendel and Lionel Loueke and More

by Len Davis
November 4, 2020

This week we feature new music from Dutch guitarist Richard Hallebeek, as well as Ben Wendel and Lionel Loueke. To mix things up some great cuts by John McLaughlin and Pat Metheny. Playlist Pat Metheny “Rise Up" from The Unity Sessions (Nonesuch) 00:00 John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension “Sully" from Live @Belgrade (Abstract Logix) 21:46 Morton Schanz “Escape Velocity" from Godspeed (Edition) 36:18r Richard Hallebeek “Turning Points" from Bumerang (Self-released) 45:53 Richard Hallebeek “Bumerang" from Bumerang (Self-released) 52:14 Ben ...

Ben Wendel: High Heart

by Mike Jacobs
October 30, 2020

If Ben Wendel's fifth outing as a leader High Heart shows anything, it's that the saxophonist is ever advancing. While this may seem a fait accompli for a card-carrying member of the shapeshifting collective Kneebody, Wendel's worthy solo efforts have been notably more in a traditionally-sounding vein and thus his innovations were perhaps a bit less readily evident to ears acclimated to that other side of his resume. And yes, by comparison to Kneebody, High Heart still tacks toward a ...

Tom Guarna: Spirit Science

by Friedrich Kunzmann
September 11, 2020

With The Wishing Stones (Destiny Records, 2017) New York-based guitarist Tom Guarna released something of a breakthrough album, featuring a prominently cast quartet made up of Brian Blade on drums, John Patitucci on bass and pianist Jon Cowherd. With that album Guarna perfected his personal style of composition, which sees post-bop language taken to more extensive structures filtered through modern sonic production values. Spirit Science picks up where that album left off and delivers another engaging set of modern post-bop ...

Kneebody: Chapters

by Emmanuel Di Tommaso
May 26, 2020

Chapters è il nono disco in studio degli americani Kneebody, il quartetto fondato nel 2001 fra le aule della Eastman School of Music di Rochester dagli allora studenti Adam Benjamin, Ben Wendel, Shane Endsley e Kaveh Rastegar, a cui si aggiunse successivamente Nate Wood. A tre anni dal solido Anti-Hero, un disco rassicurante nella misura in cui i Kneebody facevano esattamente ciò che sanno fare senza particolari stravolgimenti, questo album pubblicato dalla Edition Records riserva numerose sorprese. Ormai riconosciuti da ...