Title - Transition[s]
Artist - Phil Haynes / Ben Monder
During Covidfs isolation, drummer/composer Phil Haynes began dreaming of projects that might inspire a sixth artful decade. Engineer Jon Rosenberg urged that he gDo the Art Blakey and Anthony Braxton thingh, hiring young up and coming performers.
While such an infusion of youthfulness seemed obvious, such a change wasnft instantaneous to actualize - though he had begun worked with the stirring 28-year-old tenor titan, Peyton Pleninger (so stay tuned for that!)
Since he depends upon initial artistic chemistry appraisals to guide choices for collaboration, residing in ecentrally isolatedf Pennsylvania over the past 20 years had created challenges. As now, personally meeting and playing with the next generation of artists is far more cumbersome than when living at his ole Brooklyn Corner Store (a 80fs-90fs clearing house for like-minded artists who were also Chasing The Masters).
Hence, while itfs taken longer than anticipated to identify a group of refreshing new creatives to grow with, it did occur to him that there were several cats from my NYC era with whom he shared mutual magic yet had not recorded.
Ben Monder was at the very top of that short list.
As it happened, in addition to numerous jams with others back in the day, Ben and Phil would gather every few weeks to months, over a couple of years, just to play duets. Blowing our minds and souls out over Coltranefs Transition became a ritual, hence why their brand new collaboration is uniquely titled Transition[s] (and is due out April 25th, 2025).
1.
Ben I
2.
Untitled
3.
Brief Piece
4.
Untitled Ones
5.
Transition
6.
Ben II
7.
Phil III
8.
Openings
9.
Beyond
10.
Too Easily
11.
Phil II
12.
Ben III
13.
Epilogue
This dutifully appealing, heartfelt and organically driven new recording opens on the ominously ethereal Ben I and then brings us the scratchy ambiance of Untitled, the hurried, yet cultured appeal of Brief Place, the evoking Untitled Ones, the propellant Transition and then we get brought forth the portentous Ben II.
Along next is the more upbeat and playful Phil III and that is in turn backed by the veritably crystalline sounds that come together for Openings, the robustly sculpted Beyond, the languishing Too Easily, the set rounding out on the short, but stylized Phil II, the empowered Ben III, closing on the stirringly rhythmic Epilogue.
Musicians:
Ben Monder, guitar
Phil Haynes, drums
Official Purchase Link
www.philhaynes.com
www.benmonder.com
Title - Transition[s]