Search - Ben Monder :: Excavation

Modern Masterpiece

John Russon | Toronto, ON Canada | 07/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ben Monder is one of the most esteemed of the new generation of incredible jazz guitarists. This album is a fair representation of his style and ability. His technique is beyond anything normal players can hope for. His style is to create a haunting atmosphere through considerable repetition (with variations) of a quirky but hypnotic figure, and then to use that as a platform for wild improvisation. The improvisation can be his own Alan Holdsworth-like whizzing around the guitar or it can be subtle or not-so-subtle rhythmic or harmonic variations on the theme, it can be really groovy rhythm section work (as was pioneered by Weather Report in the mid-70s), or it can be the crazy, computer modified vocals of Theo Bleckmann. This album is not easily comparable to any other music I know, but it is hot. It fuses jazz and '80s technically incredible british rock guitar and super-hip modern rhythm with the novel, very expressive vocal work of Bleckmann. It is groundbreaking work. I was lucky to see the band in the fall of 2002: the room was silent for the entire show--I have never seen such an enraptured audience--except, of course, for the unstoppable applause after each tune. If you want to know where music is going, start here."

Startlingly Fresh

Zachary A. Hanson | Tallahassee, FL United States | 01/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The reviews for this album on this page all gush about his technique, which is clearly of the highest cut, but I don't see much mention of the emotional vistas he's opening here. From the passionately disconnected opening arpeggios of "Mistral" to the eery and alien instrumental back alleys of "Ellenville" to the grungy fusion crescendoes of "Hatchet Face," Monder is doing things that no guitarist ever has.



Not that he does it alone, of course. Theo Blackmann's vocal mirroring of Monder's chordal melodies fulfills the promise never quite fulfilled in Pat Metheny's Brazilian projects. It was always a nice concept to take Joao Gilberto-style melodies and layer them over the changes of an electric band, but Metheny always came across as so . . . cheesy. No cheese here. The melodies are a constant revelation, touching recesses of the listener's synapses that he or she may not have known she possessed. Consistently scintillating.



It seems that Monder is able to achieve this through his immersion in serial music, even offering some insights for classical composers who want to wring something fresh from the tone rows (of course a kick-ass jazz rhythm section will help this occur). He has recently taken this approach to concerto-like heights with "Oceana," a precious delicacy that I can only listen to on occasion for fear of the charm ever going out of it from too much listening. "Excavation" is, on the other hand, a CD that I can listen to repeatedly, perhaps because all of the songs don't flow into one another. I can listen to one piece and have my subconscious scintillatingly aflutter on my way into another work day. Great stuff to help convince one that the maxim "there is nothing new under the sun" is wrong.



I told my girlfriend that this is "Pat Metheny in space." Sit back on a ring of Saturn with a dacquiri in your hand and lazily watch the comets go by as they etch random fractals on your psyche."