Ben Monder

All Music Guide:

Guitarist Ben Monder has secured his place as one of most identifiable and sought-after stylists on the progressive jazz scene, an heir to the ethereal yet edgy approach of players such as John Abercrombie and Bill Frisell. Schooled at the University of Miami and Queens College, Monder has been active as a sideman since 1984, working with Jack McDuff, Marc Johnson, David Binney, Paul Motian, Lee Konitz, Toots Thielmans, and Maria Schneider, to name a few. Recently he has recorded and performed in groups led by Drew Gress, Guillermo Klein, Reid Anderson, Bill McHenry, Patrick Zimmerli, Tim Ries, Donny McCaslin, Frank Kimbrough, singer/songwriter Jane Kelly Williams, and the Basque rock artist Ruper Ordorika. Monder released his own trio's debut, Flux, in 1995. A collaboration with vocalist Theo Bleckmann, titled No Boat, appeared a year later. Dust, Monder's second trio outing, came out in 1997, followed by Excavation in 2000.

Wikipedia:

Ben Monder is an American jazz guitarist. In addition to having released solo albums he has played as a sideman on more than a hundred albums. Critics have found the style of Monder's solo albums difficult to describe, though they praise his creative genius.

Biography [edit]

Monder attended the University of Miami. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians including Lee Konitz, Toots Thielmans, Paul Motian and Maria Schneider.

In 1995 he recorded his debut album, Flux, featuring drummer Jim Black and bassist Drew Gress. A 2001 recording (an improvisation recorded in a single day) with saxophone player Bill McHenry, Bloom, wasn't released until 2010. In between, he released a genre-bending solo album, Oceana (2005), and an album with pianist Chris Gistrin and drummer Dylan van der Schyff, The Distance (2006). In 2007, he recorded At Night with singer and electronic musician Theo Bleckmann and drummer Satoshi Takeishi.