Ben Allison musician - All About Jazz

Updated: December 17, 2022

Born: November 17, 1966

In a career that spans over 30 years, bassist/composer Ben Allison has developed his own instantly identifiable sound. Known for his inspired arrangements, inventive grooves and hummable melodies, Ben draws from the jazz tradition and a range of influences from rock and folk to 20th century and a broad range of music from around the world, seamlessly blending them into a cinematic, cohesive whole.

With his small groups, Ben has toured extensively throughout the world building new audiences with an adventurous yet accessible sound and a flair for the unexpected.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Ben has performed and collaborated with an extremely diverse range of artists including oudist Ara Dinkjian, kora player Mamadou Diabate, saxophonists Lee Konitz and Joe Lovano, Cambodian chapei master Kong Nay, legendary performance artist Joey Arias, tap dancers Jimmy Slide and Gregory Hines and US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, to name a few. He has appeared on over 50 albums by various artists and has written music for film, television and radio, including the theme for the National Public Radio (NPR) show On the Media (which boasts a listenership of over 2,000,000 people), the score for Two Days, a play written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Donald Margulies and the theme for The Conversation, a webcast talk show hosted by Pharrell Williams.

In 2005, 2008 and 2013, Ben was a featured composer, arranger and performer with Jazz Sinfonica, an 80-piece orchestra based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The orchestra performed arrangements of compositions from his various albums. Ben performed his Carnegie Hall debut as a leader in February 2012.

RECORDINGS

Called “one of today’s best young jazz musicians” by the Boston Globe and a “visionary composer, adventurous improviser, and strong organizational force on the New York City jazz scene” by JazzTimes, Ben has released 13 albums — Quiet Revolution (2018, Sonic Camera Records), Layers of the City (2017, Sonic Camera Records), The Stars Look Very Different Today (2013, Sonic Camera Records) and Action-Refraction (2011), Think Free (2009), Little Things Run the World (2008), Cowboy Justice (2006), Buzz (2004), Peace Pipe (2002), Riding the Nuclear Tiger (2001), Third Eye (1999), Medicine Wheel (1998) and Seven Arrows (1996) on Palmetto Records — all of which showcase Ben’s forward-thinking vision as a bassist, composer, arranger, producer, and mixing engineer, as well as his hands-on approach to his craft.

7 of Ben’s albums have reached #1 on the CMJ national jazz radio charts, often remaining in the top 10 for many weeks, garnering him 8 SESAC National Performance Awards. His album Action-Refraction was named one of the Best Albums of 2011 (of any genre) by NPR and Time Out New York. His albums have consistently been named as among the best of the year by publications such as Billboard, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, Jazz Times, Jazz Journalists Association, Downbeat Critics Poll, All About Jazz, Coda (Canada), Jazzit (Italy) and Jazz Review (UK), among many others.

ADVOCATE / AUTHOR / NON-PROFIT ARTS LEADERSHIP

Over the past two decades, Ben has solidified his reputation as a strong voice for artist empowerment and musician’s rights. In 2001 he served as an advisor to the Doris Duke Foundation, helping to establish Chamber Music America’s New Works – Creation and Presentation program. He has served as a panelist and featured speaker at conferences led by the International Association of Jazz Educators, Chamber Music America, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, JazzTimes, the Doris Duke Foundation, the NY State Arts Presenters, the JazzConnect conference, and the Jazz Composers Collective (see below).

Ben served two terms as President of the Board of the New York chapter of the Recording Academy and chaired the Advocacy Committee from 2012 until 2019. He also served two terms as Vice President and acted as an alternate National Trustee. He has met with state and federal Senators and Representatives on subjects ranging from intellectual property rights, to technology and arts funding. In June 2012, Ben testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in support of performing rights. His testimony was reported on by the BBC (here), Billboard (here, and here), Bloomberg and the New York Times (here) among many other national and international news outlets. In 2015, Ben organized and moderated the first ever Grammy Town Hall in NYC, which featured an expert panel and keynote address by legendary producer Tony Visconti. He has appeared on radio programs produced by WBGO and WNYC where he has discussed issues relating to music piracy and intellectual property rights and is an active member of the NY state coalition NY is Music.

At the age of twenty-five, Ben formed the Jazz Composers Collective — a musician-run, non-profit organization based in New York City that was dedicated to constructing an environment where artists could exercise their ideals of creating and risking through the development and exploration of new music. As the Artistic Director and a Composer-in-Residence of the Collective, Ben produced or co-produced over 100 concerts and special events, including the Collective’s annual concert series (which ran for eleven seasons), national and international tours by Collective artists, an on-going Collective residency at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA, NYC), and, in partnership with the United States Embassy, a series of concerts and educational activities in Sao Paulo and Campinas, Brazil. From 2001-2005 Ben organized an annual “Jazz Composers Collective Festival” at the Jazz Standard — which drew international attention as “..a mainstay of New York City’s cultural life” (New Yorker Magazine).

As an author, Ben has contributed music-related articles to magazines such as Downbeat, JazzTimes, Bass Player, Premiere Guitar, Bass World, Double Bassist and thetalkhouse.com. He co-wrote (with pianist Frank Kimbrough) the liner notes for the CD Herbie Nichols: The Complete Blue Note Recordings.

AWARDS / CITATIONS

Ben has been cited in the Downbeat Critics Poll “Bassist” category (2010-2021), “Composer” category (2010-2020) and won the “Rising Star Bassist” category in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He’s also been cited in the “Rising Star Album,” “Rising Star Acoustic Group,” “Rising Star Arranger,” and “Rising Star Jazz Artist,” categories 2003-2015 as well as the “Bassist” category of the 2005-2014 Downbeat Readers Poll.

He has received commissioning, performing, and recording grants from Chamber Music America, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aaron Copland Foundation, The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Meet the Composer, and the American Composers Forum, among others.

EDUCATOR

Ben is an Associate Teaching Professor at the college of Contemporary & Performing Arts at The New School, where he teaches classes in music business & entrepreneurship, music production & technology, and the capstone class for graduating seniors called Senior Seminar. He has taught classes and led ensembles on subjects ranging from the music of Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Herbie Nichols and R&B to advanced concepts of improvisation and composition, as well as individual instruction bass performance and composition. He currently serves as co-chair of the University Faculty Senate and serves on the CoPA Executive Committee and the UFS Governance Committee. From 2011-2015, Ben was a visiting artist and ensemble instructor at New York University’s Summer Jazz Workshop and has conducted clinics and residencies at over 100 universities and conservatories throughout the United States, Italy, Brazil, Belgium, the UK, Portugal, Denmark and Mexico. From 2009-2010 Ben was a Teaching Artist at the Weill Music Center at Carnegie Hall.

Awards

In 2005, Ben received the Bird Award, Holland’s highest honor for jazz musicians. Previous recipients have included Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Pat Metheny, Stefano Bollani, Ray Brown, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Misha Mengelberg, and Han Bennick.

Ben has been cited in the Downbeat Critics Poll “Bassist” category (2010-2019), “Composer” category (2010-2019) and won the “Rising Star Bassist” category in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He’s also been cited in the “Rising Star Album,” “Rising Star Acoustic Group,” “Rising Star Arranger,” and “Rising Star Jazz Artist,” categories since 2003 as well as the “Bassist” category of the 2005-2014 Downbeat Readers Poll.

He has received commissioning, performing, and recording grants from Chamber Music America, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aaron Copland Foundation, The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Meet the Composer, and the American Composers Forum, among others.