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Ben Stapp
Tubist and composer, Ben Stapp, is on the forefront in New York’s creative music scene.
About Me
Tubist and Composer, Ben Stapp, although classically trained with Tommy Johnson
and Roger Bobo and moonlighting as jazz tubist, opened up his palette while living
in
Portugal, hanging out at Clean Feed's music store. Since then he's been living in
New
York since 2017 and experienced the diversity of New York's music scene including
engagements with Steven Bernstein's Universal Melody Brass Band, ICE
(International
Contemporary Ensemble), toured with Red Barrat, played with the Garden State
Philharmonia at Carnegie Hall, with Slavic Soul Party, played some Earle Brown with
the ECCE Ensemble at MIT, frequent traditional jazz and brass band freelancer,
tubist
for the Chelsea Symphony, Sousaphone player for Jacob Sac's live Heavens
Trombone
Choir, and plays tuba in Stephen Haynes Quintet with Joe Morris, Warren Smith,
and
William Parker, and dedicated Colombian music tubist and euphonium player with
Martin Vejarano's Cumbia River Band, Chia's Dance Party, Pablo Mayor's Folkore
Eurbano, and the experimental Alejandro Florez' Tin Throat Ensemble.
His own groups, which feature Stapp additionally as a composer, include a trio
record
with Satoshi Takeishi and Tony Malaby called Ecstasis. All About Jazz said it was a
debut of a fresh new Voice, and a musician, most certainly to watch.
Two years later created a workshop ensemble called the Zozimos, often pulling
ideas
from his talented players and assembled a quintet and recorded an album, Return
from Panopolis; with Danny Fischer, Justin Wood, David Smith, and Sebastian
Noelle
with special guests: Amanda Brasher, Isaac Darche, Alex Terrier, Curtis Stewart,
and
Andy Hunter.
As a digital release and possibly hard to digest faux-pop, post-modern aesthetic, it
received little press. Antonio Branco from JazzPt however took it on and said it was,
a
diverse, vibrant record that seduces the listener with its multiple points of interest,
accomplishing several different nuances after repeated plays. The group and music
were 1st place winners the 38th Annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival – Bob Stewart
Tuba Competition.
Later that year he was awarded his first large ensemble commission for a
completely
differently minded ensemble and composition, called 8 houses, which dived into the
mysticism of the I-Ching and compositionally a piece using aleatorics, sub-
groupings,
free-improvisation, note cells, and electronics. It was really a concerto for the
incredible duo, Vortex, Satoshi Takeishi and his wife Shoko Nagai. The piece is
available on Stapp's bandcamp page.
Further developing the Zozimos Ensemble, Mr. Stapp dedicated his efforts to an
opera
to consecrate his obsession with Jung and to enfold his most recent harmonic and
rhythmic ideas into a detective narrative/ abstracted autobiography. After two years
of
workshopping music and narrative ideas he finally recorded a two album set
entitled,
Myrrha's Red Book released by the now collapsed record label, Evolver. With this
piece
Stapp was one of the Jerome Foundation's Emerging Artist Commissions. The full
list
for that year was: Ben Stapp, Aaron Burnett, David Ruder, Ha-Yang Kim, Leslie
Flanigan, Tyshawn Sorey, Mary Kouyoumdjian and M.V.Carbon.
Concerning the record, AMN started their review off with the following statement:
While lauded in writings since then, the Myrrha’s Red Book suite should have
garnered much greater attention. With any luck, we can change that here, at least
to
some modest extent. It did make Jazz Right Now's best of 2015 records list. At the
end of the review it said: One could try to categorize these recordings as free jazz,
opera, classical, or avant-garde performance art. Regardless of such pigeonholes,
Stapp has produced a singular work that reflects today’s increasingly bent genres,
and
provides an unapologetically intellectual approach. Bravo. Participants featured
from both CDs are: Kristin
Kristin Slipp – Myrrha, Orpheus,Christopher Johnson – the Doctor, Fortune Teller,
Tomas Cruz - the
Detective, Orpheus, Kenny Warren – Trumpet, David Smith – Trumpet, Flugel,
Stephen Haynes –
Trumpet, Alto Horn, Dustin Carlson – Guitar, Pedals, Justin wood – Flute, Clarinet,
Alto Saxophone, Oscar
Noriega – Bass Clarinets, Clarinet, Vasko Dukovski – Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Andrew
Hadro - Clarinet, Bass
Clarinet, Rebekah Heller - Bassoon, Satoshi Takeishi – Percussion, Shoko Nagai –
Piano, Moog, Pedals,
Electronics, Vasko Dukovski - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Peter Bulmer: Writer
Mr. Stapp has recently recorded a duo album with Joe Morris with special guest
Stephen Haynes and is looking for a potential music label. Mr. Stapp is also working
on
a new set of pieces for septet to showcase his newest music theories and
particularly
his approach to harmony: Theta Scales.