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Ross McHenry: Nothing Remains Unchanged
by Troy Dostert
Electric bassist Ross McHenry has been a highly-regarded presence in the Australian jazz scene since the release of his 2013 debut record, Distant Oceans (First Word Records). His recognition outside of his home country has been limited, although that may change with his 2020 release, Nothing Remains Unchanged. Eschewing some of his larger-ensemble tendencies for a pared-down quartet concept, this album sees McHenry honing his melodic instincts and creating an infectious chemistry with some new colleagues. On his ...
Continue ReadingKneebody: Chapters
by Mike Jacobs
Chapters--the title of Kneebody's 2019 release--has a certain appropriateness, as it definitely marks several new ones for the band. One being that lyric-oriented songs account for nearly half of the material on the album. Technically, vocals are nothing new to Kneebody. The band included one track with vocals on their 2002 proto-Kneebody album Wendel. Its 2009 collaborative effort with Theo Bleckmann, Twelve Songs of Charles Ives (Winter and Winter, 2008) was nominated for a Grammy and indeed their recent EP ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel: The Seasons
by Angelo Leonardi
L'evoluzione del progetto The Seasons di Ben Wendel trova organica espressione in un nuovo collettivo. La prima realizzazione è avvenuta nel 2015, con dodici duo-performance (pubblicate su YouTube) effettuate con altrettanti partner: Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Ambrose Akinmusire, Julian Lage ecc... Le composizioni sono state arrangiate l'anno successivo per dei concerti in quintetto alla Jazz Gallery di New York e due di esse (rinominate ”Spring” e ”Fall”) erano incluse nel penultimo album del sassofonista, What We Bring (Motéma 2016). Nel ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel Live At BIMHUIS Amsterdam
by BIMHUIS
Ben Wendel, saxophonist of Kneebody and forerunner of the current jazz generation, presents music from his YouTube project Seasons, a remarkable video series on YouTube: 12 duets, composed for and dedicated to 12 musicians he admires, released over 12 months. The project was inspired by the eponymous series of piano duos by Tchaikovsky. Ben Wendel is a versatile musician, who effortlessly switches between tenor sax and bassoon and between jazz, classical music, funk or West Coast hip-hop. Born ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel: The Seasons
by Friedrich Kunzmann
For many centuries composers have set to music the different seasons each new year has to offer (lately, some show the tendency of disappearing more and more. Seasons, not composers). Baroque composer Vivaldi's very straightforward division in four on “Le Quattro Stagioni" has to be one of the most prominent examples. Saxophonist and composer Ben Wendel however was inspired by 19th century superstar Pyotr Tchaikovsky's “Les Saisons" when in January of 2015 he decided to document a series of 12 ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel: The Seasons
by Mike Jurkovic
Stepping out as he occasionally does from the genre-mashing ensemble Kneebody, Grammy-nominated saxophonist / bassoonist Ben Wendel takes up the challenge of interpreting the seasons as they exist in this time of climate upheaval and delivers the dynamic, visceral The Seasons. In 2015, inspired by Tchaikovsky's “The Seasons," Wendel set about writing and performing twelve duets and videos featuring musicians he keenly admires, including Shai Maestro, Joshua Redman, Julian Lage, Matt Brewer, Eric Harland, and vocalist Luciana Souza. ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel: What We Bring
by Vincenzo Roggero
Ben Wendel può essere considerato il volto gentile dei Kneebody -band ad alto voltaggio adrenalinico della quale è membro fondatore -caratteristica che evidenzia principalmente nei suoi lavori da leader. È il caso anche di questo What We Bring album nel quale si avvale del talento di Gerald Clayton, pianista che ben incarna la folta schiera di musicisti ancorati alla tradizione straight ahead e impegnati a rinfrescarla con i fermenti della contemporaneità. What We Bring -afferma Wendel nelle ...
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