BEN MONDER - Amorphae
ECM 471 955
Ben Monder (electric guitar, electric baritone guitar); Pete Rende (synthesizer); Andrew Cyrille (drums); Paul Motian (drums)
Recorded October 2010 & December 2013
Brooklyn -based guitarist, Ben Monder, has been a fixture on the New York scene for some three decades and boasts an impressive CV playing Jack McDuff, Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Maria Schneider, and in the group led by drummer, Paul Motian. And it is this connection that brings us to this latest release, surprisingly only his sixth as leader and his debut for ECM under his own name.
As somewhat of a departure for the guitarist the music is almost wholly improvised, with the exception of 'Oh, What A Beautiful Morning', the Rodgers and Hart song that he had played with Motian's Electric Bebop Band, although is must be said that the duo do a fair job of dismantling this familiar melody.
Originally conceived as a duo with Motian from sessions recorded in Manhattan in October 2010 events were cut short by the drummers untimely death. The result is that here we are left with just two tantalizing glimpses of the pairs work together in the aforementioned abstracted reading of 'Beautiful Morning' and all too brief free improvisation 'Triffids' in which the drummer weaves his intricate and melodic patterns in and around Monder's guitar, with familiar jazz phrasing and chords rubbing shoulders with his electronic manipulation and voicings. An intriguing blend that it is perhaps more subtly explored here than anywhere else on the album.
The duets with Andrew Cyrrille, as with Motian, provide an opposing approach and point of view from the guitarist, and the result is again a well balanced and agreeable dialogue. Monder's tendency to disappear in swirls of electronics are brought down to earth by Cyrille's patient work at the kit, nudging, cajoling and commenting on 'Hematophagy' and bringing the guitar back down into a more open and melodic space.
The addition of a third voice provides more of the same on two tracks with the introduction of Pete Rende, although the addition of synthesizers on 'Gamma Crucis' seems to add little more that a blurring oft he electronic textures and boundaries and somewhat mask Monder's use of the electric baritone guitar. The trio work far more sympathetically and to more pleasing musical ends on 'Zythum' that seems to be spacious, textural and melodic all at the same time, with the impression that this floating melange of sound moves with a definite forward momentum rather than just hanging in the atmosphere.
Then album is book ended by two solo guitar improvisations by Monder, that again have opposing viewpoints. The open cut, 'Tendrils' flows gently with an evolving melodic line developed over its five minute duration, whilst the closer, 'Dinosaur Skies' moves stealthily from a distant and distracted line line that becomes ever more increasingly ominous, giving way to sheets of electronic sound that give and sense of foreboding.
On first acquaintance, this was not an album that I felt in any way drawn to. Initially perhaps too disparate with different line-ups (inevitable given the circumstances), and a lack of focus or clearly defined role for the guitar. Further listening reveals intricacies within the music that had been missed or even dismissed on first hearings, but on subsequent playings the music has revealed more. Having said this, the strongest music is heard in the duets with Motian and Cyrille and it is perhaps their experience and playing that has brought the guitarist's vision more sharply into foucs.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
ECM 471 955
Ben Monder (electric guitar, electric baritone guitar); Pete Rende (synthesizer); Andrew Cyrille (drums); Paul Motian (drums)
Recorded October 2010 & December 2013
Brooklyn -based guitarist, Ben Monder, has been a fixture on the New York scene for some three decades and boasts an impressive CV playing Jack McDuff, Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Maria Schneider, and in the group led by drummer, Paul Motian. And it is this connection that brings us to this latest release, surprisingly only his sixth as leader and his debut for ECM under his own name.
As somewhat of a departure for the guitarist the music is almost wholly improvised, with the exception of 'Oh, What A Beautiful Morning', the Rodgers and Hart song that he had played with Motian's Electric Bebop Band, although is must be said that the duo do a fair job of dismantling this familiar melody.
Originally conceived as a duo with Motian from sessions recorded in Manhattan in October 2010 events were cut short by the drummers untimely death. The result is that here we are left with just two tantalizing glimpses of the pairs work together in the aforementioned abstracted reading of 'Beautiful Morning' and all too brief free improvisation 'Triffids' in which the drummer weaves his intricate and melodic patterns in and around Monder's guitar, with familiar jazz phrasing and chords rubbing shoulders with his electronic manipulation and voicings. An intriguing blend that it is perhaps more subtly explored here than anywhere else on the album.
The duets with Andrew Cyrrille, as with Motian, provide an opposing approach and point of view from the guitarist, and the result is again a well balanced and agreeable dialogue. Monder's tendency to disappear in swirls of electronics are brought down to earth by Cyrille's patient work at the kit, nudging, cajoling and commenting on 'Hematophagy' and bringing the guitar back down into a more open and melodic space.
The addition of a third voice provides more of the same on two tracks with the introduction of Pete Rende, although the addition of synthesizers on 'Gamma Crucis' seems to add little more that a blurring oft he electronic textures and boundaries and somewhat mask Monder's use of the electric baritone guitar. The trio work far more sympathetically and to more pleasing musical ends on 'Zythum' that seems to be spacious, textural and melodic all at the same time, with the impression that this floating melange of sound moves with a definite forward momentum rather than just hanging in the atmosphere.
Then album is book ended by two solo guitar improvisations by Monder, that again have opposing viewpoints. The open cut, 'Tendrils' flows gently with an evolving melodic line developed over its five minute duration, whilst the closer, 'Dinosaur Skies' moves stealthily from a distant and distracted line line that becomes ever more increasingly ominous, giving way to sheets of electronic sound that give and sense of foreboding.
On first acquaintance, this was not an album that I felt in any way drawn to. Initially perhaps too disparate with different line-ups (inevitable given the circumstances), and a lack of focus or clearly defined role for the guitar. Further listening reveals intricacies within the music that had been missed or even dismissed on first hearings, but on subsequent playings the music has revealed more. Having said this, the strongest music is heard in the duets with Motian and Cyrille and it is perhaps their experience and playing that has brought the guitarist's vision more sharply into foucs.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
