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Ben Wendel: Assembling The Mallet Avengers
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Today, The Tonearm's needle drops on saxophonist and composer Ben Wendel.Ben is a Grammy-nominated saxophonist, composer, and co-founder of Kneebody, with a discography that covers post-bop, chamber jazz, and electronic music. He's worked with Bill Frisell, Tigran Hamasyan, Terence Blanchard and yes, Prince.
His album BaRcoDe (Edition Records, 2026) is built around a concept that's hard to pull off: four of the most in-demand vibraphonists working today—Joel Ross, Simon Moullier, Patricia Brennan, and Juan Diego Villalobos —surrounding one saxophonist. The group developed the music across two residencies at The Jazz Gallery in New York City, and the result sits between chamber music and jazz improvisation, with electronics running through all of it.
Ben's here to walk us through how this project came together and what it took to write for an ensemble like this.
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Radio & Podcasts
Ben Wendel
Lawrence Peryer
Lydia Liebman Promotions
United States
New York
New York City
Kneebody
Bill Frisell
Tigran Hamasyan
Terence Blanchard
Prince
BaRcoDe
Joel Ross
Simon Moullier
Patricia Brennan
Juan Diego Villalobos
The Jazz Gallery
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About Ben Wendel
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
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