Ben Wendel – All One (2023) [FLAC 24bit/48kHz]

Ben Wendel – All One (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 42:20 minutes | 456 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Edition Records

All One is the inspired, multilayered and guest-starring new album from the master saxophonist and composer Ben Wendel – with every song featuring a different special guest forming a truly all-star lineup across the album.

Layers of woodwind lay the foundation for very real and honest collaborations with some of the biggest stars in the global scene Bill Frisell, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Terrence Blanchard, José James, Elena Pinderhughes and Tigran Hamasyan. In recent years, the Canadian-born, LA-raised musician has taken unique ownership of a place in the saxophone world for his strong and focussed tone, use of electronics and forward-thinking boldness that has created a large and dedicated following. He is a musician adept as much in Jazz as in Pop with a language and sound that are uniquely his. All One showcases the fullness of Ben Wendel’s talent as you’ve never seen it before – as an arranger, composer, performer and collaborator – and with his celebrity associations that have enabled him to pull together a stellar guest line-up. With a message of togetherness, friendship and unity, All One will confirm Ben Wendel’s stature as an of the most innovative and prolific musicians of his generation.Over the past 20 years, Ben Wendel has mainly made a name for himself through his active participation in the avant-garde cooperative group Kneebody, whose formal experimentation within the confines of post-rock, electro-pop and alternative hip hop have considerably influenced the young progressive jazz scene on both sides of the Atlantic. Recently, however, the saxophonist and composer is pursuing a particularly active and attractive solo career, setting up an increasing number of collaborations here, there, and everywhere (including pianists Tigran Hamasyan and Dan Tepfer, electronic musician Daedelus), creating ever more personal and ambitious leader records. This is the case with this new album, which is unique in the way it highlights the musician’s talents as an arranger. Playing all the instruments and, in certain tracks, going so far as to superimpose over 30 tracks of tenor, alto and bassoon saxophones (cf. the hypnotic version of I Love You Porgy by Gershwin), Wendel (assisted by the sound engineer, Steve Wood) creates kaleidoscopes of extreme harmonic and contrapuntal sophistication, each time highlighting the poetics of a different guest with whom he enters into dialogue. Ben Wendel brought together a vast array of different artists in his recording studio, such as Cécile McLorin Salvant and José James, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Tigran Hamasyan, and flautist Elena Pinderhugues. Like a demiurgic director/scenographer, he was certainly not afraid to continuously reincarnate himself and join his creatures to shake up the beautiful ordering of his universe from the inside, using solo interventions of great expressive force. Here, he offers a new shining example of his multifaceted talent. – Stéphane Ollivier

Tracklist:

1-1. Ben Wendel – I Loves You Porgy (feat. Cécile Mclorin Salvant) (05:40)
1-2. Ben Wendel – Wanderers (feat. Terence Blanchard) (07:33)
1-3. Ben Wendel – Throughout (feat. Bill Frisell) (06:48)
1-4. Ben Wendel – Speak Joy (feat. Elena Pinderhughes) (07:45)
1-5. Ben Wendel – Tenderly (feat. José James) (06:30)
1-6. Ben Wendel – In Anima (feat. Tigran Hamasyan) (08:02)

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