Search - Ben Wendel;Harish Raghavan;Nate Wood :: Act

ACT Act (BJUR 011): The debut recording from ACT brings together the minds and music of saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Ben Wendel (Ignacio Berroa, Tigran Hamasyan, Snoop Dogg, Daedelus, Kneebody), bassist Harish Raghavan (Ambrose Akinmusire, Eric Harland, Mark Turner, Aaron Parks, Greg Osby, Vijay Iyer, Billy Childs, Kurt Elling, Benny Green, Terrell Stafford, Mike Moreno, Gerald Clayton) and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Nate Wood (Chaka Khan, Richard Stekol, Wayne Krantz, John Tesh, Billy Childs, Tigran Hamasyan, Taylor Eigsti, The Black Plums featuring Richard Stekol and Adam Benjamin, with whom Nate plays drums and bass simultaneously). Ben Wendel explains the making of ACT: The three of us have known each other for quite some time - we've played in a lot of different groups together but always gravitated towards the trio, so making this album has been something we've wanted to do for quite a while. We ended up with two free days last year and tracked the music down at Steve Wood's private studio (Steve is Nate's father and one of the best engineers on the West Coast). The title track Act was composed quickly by Wendel in the studio just prior to recording, and finds Wood and Raghavan burning underneath Wendel s ominous melody line. What Was, a meditative, introspective piece, is based on a sketch that has eventually turned into a movement of a jazz suite that Wendel is writing for the Chamber Music of America New Works Grant. On Raghavan s Break this trio reaches the pinnacle of interplay, sounding like a three-headed, conservatory-trained musician, who also happens to be a really great improviser. The standards they chose (Sonny Rollins Pentup House and Elvis Costello s Shamed Into Love) came naturally out of a few warm up gigs leading to the recording. With the release of their debut recording, ACT, this trio instantly moves to the front of the line as one of the most creative and fascinating new bands on the Brooklyn scene. Act features Ben Wendel (saxophone, bassoon, piano), Harish Raghavan (bass), Nate Wood (drums).