Amorphae
| Amorphae | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 15, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | October 2010 and December 2013 | |||
| Studio | Sear Sound studios and Brooklyn Recording studios in New York City. | |||
| Genre | jazz | |||
| Length | 44:50 | |||
| Label | ECM Records ECM 2421 | |||
| Producer | Manfred Eicher | |||
| Ben Monder chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz |   [1] |
| The Guardian | [2] |
Amorphae is a jazz studio album by Ben Monder with Pete Rende, Andrew Cyrille and Paul Motian. This album was released in the label ECM Records in January 2016.[3]
Composition[]
Amorphae was originally planned to be a series of duets between Ben Monder and Paul Motian. They started recording a duo session in 2010, but Motian died a year after. Monder wanted to continue the project and then, Andrew Cyrille and Paul Rende joined him.[3]
Reception[]
In The Guardian, John Fordham gave this album three stars and says that "Playing unaccompanied on conventional and baritone guitars, Monder embraces soft tone poems of humming sustains and eerie echoes, as well as wilder David Torn-like tumults." and add that "His soundworld is a shade private and austere, but ECM’s blessing should alert a wider audience to Monder’s talents."[2]
Thomas Conrad of Jazz Times stated "The album sustains a single ethereal domain of sonorities, even though it was recorded in two sessions three years apart and uses four different combinations of players... It is remarkable how many layers of sound Monder can produce from one guitar and one vintage Lexicon reverb unit. Cyrille offers, selectively, brushstrokes of color. On two trio pieces with Cyrille and Pete Rende on synth, the sonic landscape becomes vast but the creative process remains profoundly gradual. In one respect only, Amorphae is typical of current jazz releases: The ratio of originals to standards is 7-to-1. “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” is a duet with Paul Motian, in one of his final recordings. Motian's signature deft irregular accents create dramatic expectancy for the initial tentative forays of Monder, who grasps for fragments of the melody. Then Monder and his Lexicon blow this sweet song of Rodgers and Hammerstein into a wild, keening, howling storm. With more tracks like this one, Amorphae would have been a stronger and even stranger album."[4]
Track listing[]
ECM Records – ECM 2421.[3]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tendrils" | Ben Monder | 5:21 |
| 2. | "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" | Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein | 5:22 |
| 3. | "Tumid Cenobite" | Andrew Cyrille & Ben Monder | 4:49 |
| 4. | "Gamma Crucis" | Andrew Cyrille, Ben Monder & Pete Rende | 5:15 |
| 5. | "Zythum" | Andrew Cyrille, Ben Monder & Pete Rende | 7:06 |
| 6. | "Triffids" | Ben Monder & Paul Motian | 2:55 |
| 7. | "Hematophagy" | Andrew Cyrille & Ben Monder | 6:57 |
| 8. | "Dinosaur Skies" | Ben Monder | 7:05 |
| Total length: | 44:50 | ||
Personnel[]
- Ben Monder – electric guitar, electric baritone guitar
- Pete Rende – synthesizer
- Andrew Cyrille – drums
- Paul Motian – drums
References[]
- ^ "Amorphae (All About Jazz Review)". All About Jazz. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Amorphae (The Guardian Review)". The Guardian. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Amorphae". ECM Records. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ Conrad, Thomas (30 November 2015). "Ben Monder: Amorphae". Jazz Times. jazztimes.com. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
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- ECM Records albums
- 2016 albums
- Albums produced by Manfred Eicher