Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Saxophonists Samuel Blais (left), Donny McCaslin, David Binney and Dave Liebman make up the Four Visions Saxophone Quartet, a group that can trace its lineage back to jazz and the work of classical saxophonist Marcel Mule.
(Photo: Courtesy Sunnyside)Unlike other ensembles, The Westerlies also spend considerable time workshopping their arrangements before ever performing them at shows, often waiting a year or more to debut new material. During that time, the group will work and rework an idea until they’ve collectively discovered a unique way of expressing a piece of music. “We put our brains together and really crack open each piece and rebuild it in a way that’s interesting,” Clausen said.
In 2016, the ensemble released its second album, The Westerlies (Songlines)—all clean, dynamic originals—and they have two more albums on deck for 2020. In January, the band plans to self-release its most varied album to date, Wherein Lies The Good—a jumble of tunes culled from disparate sources: a solo piano work, a 1930s vocal group and its own democratically vetted original ideas. Later next year, they’ll also unveil a recording of collaborative efforts with vocalist/composer Theo Bleckmann, Songs Of Refuge And Resistance, a dive into protest music past and present.
With these two pending albums, The Westerlies are moving in sync with their stated mission: to “amplify unheard voices, paint new sonic landscapes and cultivate a global community.” It’s a mission that group members take seriously, and one that influences the repertoire they choose, the musicians with whom they collaborate and the gigs they curate.
Sporting this forward-leaning vision, The Westerlies join a decades-long line of wind players who helped shape jazz history, each with a unique brand of genre agnosticism and freedom fighting. WSQ could share The Westerlies’ mission statement.
Liebman, however, takes a more sweeping view of jazz innovation: “That Marcel Mule. He really started something big.” DB
Benjamin possessed a fluid, round sound on the alto saxophone, and he was often most recognizable by the layers of electronic effects that he put onto the instrument.
Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
“He’s constructing intelligent musical sentences that connect seamlessly, which is the most important part of linear playing,” Charles McPherson said of alto saxophonist Sonny Red.
Feb 27, 2024 1:40 PM
“I might not have felt this way 30 to 40 years ago, but I’ve reached a point where I can hear value in what people…
Albert “Tootie” Heath (1935–2024) followed in the tradition of drummer Kenny Clarke, his idol.
Apr 5, 2024 10:28 AM
Albert “Tootie” Heath, a drummer of impeccable taste and time who was the youngest of three jazz-legend brothers…
“Both of us are quite grounded in the craft, the tradition and the harmonic sense,” Rosenwinkel said of his experience playing with Allen. “Yet I felt we shared something mystical as well.”
Mar 12, 2024 11:42 AM
“There are a few musicians you hear where, as somebody once said, the molecules in the room change. Geri was one of…
Larry Goldings’ versatility keeps him in high demand as a leader, collaborator and sideman.
Feb 21, 2024 10:45 AM
Are you having any fun? Larry Goldings certainly is. Consider just two recent examples:
Scene 1: “If anyone had…
