Ben Monder (born May 24, 1962) is an American modern jazz rock guitarist.

Biography

Monder started playing guitar when he was eleven, after two years on violin. From 1979–84, he attended the Westchester Conservatory of Music, the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

, and Queens College. One of his early jobs was in 1986 when he performed with

Jack McDuff Eugene McDuffy (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. He was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz ...

. In 1995 he recorded his debut album, ''Flux'', featuring drummer Jim Black and bassist Drew Gress. This was followed by the trio recording

Dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

(1996) and the quartet recording Excavation (2000) which added vocalist Theo Bleckmann. ''Bloom'', a 2001 recording (an improvisation recorded in a single day) with saxophone player Bill McHenry, wasn't released until 2010. In between, he released ''Oceana'' (2005), a genre-bending solo album, and ''The Distance'' (2006), an album with pianist Chris Gestrin and drummer Dylan van der Schyff. In 2007, he recorded ''At Night'' with Theo Bleckmann and drummer Satoshi Takeishi. In 2013, Monder released ''Hydra'' on Sunnyside, featuring Bleckmann, John Pattitucci,

Skúli Sverrisson Skúli Sverrisson (born 23 October 1966) is an Icelandic composer and bass guitarist. He has worked with musicians Wadada Leo Smith, Derek Bailey (guitarist), Derek Bailey, Lou Reed, Jon Hassell, David Sylvian, Arto Lindsay, and composers ...

, and Ted Poor. He made his debut on ECM Records as a leader with 2016's Amorphae, and played guitar on

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

's final studio album, '' Blackstar'' (2016). He has worked with Lee Konitz,

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer of Armenian descent. He played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. Motian first came t ...

, Chris Cheek, Tim Berne,

David Binney David Binney (born August 2, 1961) is an American alto saxophonist and composer. Early life Binney was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Carpinteria, California. From his parents, who loved music, he was exposed to albums by John Colt ...

, Theo Bleckmann, George Garzone, Jon Gordon, Julie Hardy, John Hollenbeck, Marc Johnson, Frank Kimbrough, Guillermo Klein, Dave Liebman, Michael Leonhart, Rebecca Martin, Donny McCaslin, Bill McHenry, Charles Pillow, Noah Preminger, Tim Ries, Pete Robbins, Josh Roseman, Maria Schneider, Kendra Shank,

Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

, Dan Willis, Miguel Zenón, and Patrick Zimmerli. From 2002–2005, he taught at the New England Conservatory. As of August, 2021 he is a member of the Minneapolis-based jazz quartet The Bad Plus.

Discography

As leader

* ''Flux'' (Songlines, 1995) * ''

'' (Arabesque, 1997) * '' Excavation'' (Arabesque, 2000) * ''Oceana'' (Sunnyside, 2005) * ''Hydra'' (Sunnyside, 2013) * '' Amorphae'' (ECM, 2016) * ''Day After Day'' (Sunnyside, 2019) * ''Live at the 55 Bar'' (Sunnyside, 2021) * ''Live in Lisbon'' (Robalo, 2022) * ''Planetarium'' (Sunnyside, 2024)

As co-leader

* ''No Boat'' with Theo Bleckmann (Songlines, 1997) * ''At Night'' with Theo Bleckmann (Songlines, 2007) * ''Bloom'' with Bill McHenry (Sunnyside, 2010) With The Bad Plus * ''The Bad Plus.'' (Edition, 2022)

As sideman

With Theo Bleckmann * ''Origami'' (Songlines, 2001) * ''Elegy'' (ECM, 2017) With Antonio Arnedo * ''Travesia'' (MTM, 1996) * ''Orígenes'' (MTM, 1997) * ''Encuentros'' (MTM, 1998) * ''Colombia'' (MTM, 2001) With Guillermo Klein * ''Los Guachos II'' (Sunnyside, 1999) * ''Los Guachos III'' (Sunnyside, 2002) * ''Live In Barcelona'' (Fresh Sound, 2005) * ''Filtros'' (Sunnyside, 2008) * ''Carrera'' (Sunnyside, 2012) * ''Los Guachos V'' (Sunnyside, 2016) * ''Cristal'' (Sunnyside, 2019) With Donny McCaslin * ''Seen from Above'' (Arabesque, 2000) * ''Soar'' (Sunnyside, 2006) * ''In Pursuit'' (Sunnyside, 2007) * ''Declaration'' (Sunnyside, 2009) * ''Blow'' (Motema, 2018) With Bill McHenry * ''Rest Stop'' (Fresh Sound, 1998) * ''Graphic'' (Fresh Sound, 1999) * ''Featuring Paul Motian'' (Fresh Sound, 2003) * ''Roses'' (Sunnyside, 2007) * ''Ghosts of the Sun'' (Sunnyside, 2011) With

* ''

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

'' (Winter & Winter, 2001) * '' Holiday for Strings'' (Winter & Winter, 2002) * ''

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...

'' (ECM, 2006) With Noah Preminger * ''Dry Bridge Road'' (Nowt, 2008) * ''Haymaker'' (Palmetto, 2013) * ''Some Other Time'' (Newvelle, 2016) With Maria Schneider * ''

Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...

'' (Enja, 1994) * '' Coming About'' (Enja, 1996) * '' Allegresse'' (ArtistShare, 2000) * '' Days of Wine and Roses'' (ArtistShare, 2000) * '' Concert in the Garden'' (ArtistShare, 2004) * ''

Sky Blue Sky blue refers to a collection of shades comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. Typically it is a shade of cyan or light teal, though some iterations are closer to light Azure (color), azure or light blue. The term (as "sky blew") is atte ...

'' (ArtistShare, 2007) * '' Data Lords'' (ArtistShare, 2020) With Patrick Zimmerli * ''Explosion'' (Songlines, 1997) * ''Expansion'' (Songlines, 2000) * ''The Book of Hours'' (Songlines, 2002) With others * Pablo Ablanedo, ''Alegria'' (Fresh Sound, 2003) * David Ake, ''Humanities'' (Posi-Tone, 2018) * Reid Anderson, ''The Vastness of Space'' (Fresh Sound, 2000) *

, ''The Luxury of Guessing'' (AudioQuest, 1995) *

, '' Blackstar'' (Columbia, 2015) * Chris Cheek, ''A Girl Name Joe'' (Fresh Sound, 1998) * Gerald Cleaver, ''Adjust'' (Fresh Sound, 2001) * Dave's True Story, ''Sex Without Bodies'' (Chesky, 1998) * Yelena Eckemoff, ''Better Than Gold and Silver'' (L&H, 2018) * Jon Gordon, ''Currents'' (Double-Time, 1998) * Drew Gress, ''Heyday'' (Soul Note, 1998) * Nikolaj Hess, ''Global Motion +'' (Stunt, 2010) * John Hollenbeck, ''No Images'' (Composers Recordings, 2001) * Ingrid Jensen, ''Infinitude'' (Whirlwind, 2016) * Marc Johnson, ''Right Brain Patrol'' (JMT, 1992) * Frank Kimbrough, ''Noumena'' (Soul Note, 2000) *

Steve LaSpina Steven Frank LaSpina (born March 24, 1954) is an American jazz bassist who plays both upright and electric bass. Life and career Steve LaSpina was born in Wichita Falls, Texas; his father and grandfather both played in dance bands. He attended th ...

, ''Distant Dream'' (Steeplechase, 1998) * Rebecca Martin, ''People Behave Like Ballads'' (Maxjazz, 2004) * Dan McCarthy, ''Epoch'' (Origin, 2019) * Francisco Mela, ''Tree of Life'' (Half Note, 2011) * Andy Milne, ''Forward in All Directions'' (Contrology 2014) * Andy Milne, ''The Seasons of Being'' (Sunnyside, 2018) * Ruper Ordorika, ''Soík So'' (Nuevos Medios, 1995) * Ruper Ordorika, ''Dabilen Harria'' (Nuevos Medios, 1998) * Ruper Ordorika, ''Hurrengo goizean'' (Metak, 2001) * Ruper Ordorika, ''Kantuok jartzen ditut'' ( Metak, 2003) * Ruper Ordorika, ''Haizea Garizumakoa'' (Elkar, 2010) * Dave Pietro, ''Forgotten Dreams'' (A Records, 1994) * Mika Pohjola, ''Landmark'' (Abovoice, 2002) * Mika Pohjola, ''Northern Sunrise'' (BlueMusicGroup 2009) * Bruno Raberg, ''Lifelines'' (Orbis Music, 2008) * Tim Ries, ''Alternate Side'' (Criss Cross, 2001) * Tim Ries, ''The Rolling Stones Project'' (Concord, 2005) * Pete Robbins, ''Do The Hate Laugh Shimmy'' (Fresh Sound, 2008) * Josh Roseman, ''Cherry'' (Enja, 2000) * Josh Roseman, ''Treats for the Nightwalker'' (Enja, 2003) * Kendra Shank, ''A Spirit Free: Abbey Lincoln Songbook'' (Challenge, 2006) * Kendra Shank, ''Mosaic'' (Challenge, 2009) * Jeremy Udden, ''Torchsongs'' (Fresh Sound, 2006) * Andre White, ''Signal'' (Cornerstone, 2000) * Miguel Zenon, ''Looking Forward'' (Fresh Sound, 2001)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monder, Ben 1962 births Living people Guitarists from New York City Jazz musicians from New York City University of Miami alumni American jazz guitarists Avant-garde jazz musicians Arabesque Records artists 20th-century American guitarists Octurn members Sunnyside Records artists