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Jazz Articles about Ben Thomas (US)
About Ben Thomas (US)
Instrument: Vibraphone
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by Jane Kozhevnikova
For some people, tango means the dance with a stereotypical red rose between the teeth. For Ben Thomas, a percussionist and bandoneonist from Seattle, tango is much more than that: it has been an important part of his life for at least fifteen years before the 2022 release of Eternal Aporia. The album includes twelve of his original compositions mixing tango with jazz and classical chamber music. Joining Thomas on the album are Eric Likkel (clarinets) and ...
read moreBen Thomas (US): Eternal Aporia
by Jack Bowers
They say it takes two to tango. On Ben Thomas' new album, Eternal Aporia ("uncertainty; doubt"), it takes at least three, and sometimes half a dozen. That's not a bad thing, as Thomas' splendid core trio is fleshed out on three numbers by cellist Gretchen Vanover and on two others by Vanover, violinist Brandon Vance and pianist Jonathan Greer, making the tango more lustrous and enchanting than ever. Thomas himself plays vibraphone, bandoneon and percussion, leading a burnished threesome whose ...
read moreBen Thomas' Endless Mountain Region: Ben Thomas' Endless Mountain Region
by Bruce Lindsay
Ben Thomas' Endless Mountain Region, the debut album by this eponymous trio led by bassist Thomas--is dedicated, according to Thomas' rather funky website, to exploring the freedom of a chordless trio." It undertakes this exploration on a series of original tunes--three each from Thomas and drummer Aaron Staebell, one from saxophonist Tony Malaby--and a version of saxophonist Ornette Coleman's WRU," all of which were recorded live at Rochester, New York's Contemporary Art Center in November 2010.Thomas and Staebell ...
read moreBen Thomas: The Mystagogue
by AAJ Staff
Seattle vibraphonist Ben Thomas offers a swinging, pulsing quintet sound on his second release, The Mystagogue. Thomas augments his core vibe/piano quartet with one of three clarinet and saxophone players on most of the tracks on the record, lending a ever-changing fifth voice to the ensemble. While the combination of piano and vibes might suggest the danger of over-crowding the midrange, Thomas and pianist Laura Caviani respect each other's space.
Thomas reserves his instrument for reinforcing the melody and embarking ...
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