Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder

No Boat

“A jazz vocalist with an amazing ear, a thorough knowledge of bebop scales, and absolutely no inhibitions…A disc marked by an imperturbable cool…”

—Kyle Gann, Village Voice

This is Songlines’ first vocal release and of course it’s not a conventional singer-with-accompanists date. Bleckmann and Monder have been performing as a duo for the last year or so, since about the time of Monder’s debut CD Flux, also featuring Jim Black. This new record expands the duo’s concept with the addition of electric bass and drums on half the tracks. The emphasis throughout is on expression, intensity, freedom and interdependence: the male voice (sometimes multiplied by live electronics) is also an instrument, engaged with the others in building up layers and creating textures that blur boundaries between sound and song, improvisation and composition. The title piece is John Hollenbeck’s setting of a poem by Maxine Hong Kingston; the program also includes moving interpretations of two jazz standards, a wordless, modern-day chorale by Bleckmann, four characteristically evocative Monder compositions, plus a Monder-Black duet and two other exploratory improvisations. Bleckmann’s now ethereal, now raucous vocal inventions dovetail with the guitarist’s oblique lines, searching harmonies and occasional rock outbursts, Sverrisson’s deep foundation, and Black’s gestural beat: as musical companions they’re strong swimmers all. The recording is audiophile tube analogue.

Theo Bleckmann was born in Dortmund, Germany in 1966 and moved to NYC in 1989. Since 1990 he has been performing and touring with composer/pianist Kirk Nurock (CDs Theo & Kirk, ’92, and Looking-Glass River, ’95, on Traumton), and since 1992 with bassist Mark Dresser (CD Force Green, ’95, Soul Note). Joining Meredith Monk’s vocal ensemble in 1994, he has performed in Facing North, Three Heavens and Hells, American Archaeology and The Politics of Quiet and other works. He sang the title role in Anthony Braxton’s opera Joreo’s Vision of Forward Motion (No. 126), and has sung and/or recorded with Jay Clayton, Dave Douglas, Elliot Sharp, Philip Glass, Jerry Granelli, Jamey Haddad, Gerry Hemingway, Peter Herbert, Sheila Jordan (who has called him “a truly rare talent”), Guy Klucesvek, Steve Kuhn, Renee Manning, Judy Niemack, Bobby Previte, and Ned Rothenberg. He currently leads a quartet, Slow Motion; his composition “Chorale #1 for Eight Voices” received the ASCAP/Gershwin Award. As a sound improvisor/ composer he has created scores for radio, film, dance and theatre, including the alien language for Steven Spielberg’s Men in Black. Recent collaborations include The Last Words of Dutch Schultz, a music-theatre piece by composer Eric Salzman, visual artist John Baldessari, and director Valeria Vasilevski, and Mercuria, a vocal-visual theater piece with performance artist Lynn Book. Theo also teaches vocal improvisation at NYU.

Ben Monder was born in New York in 1962 and has worked with a wide variety of jazz artists, including Pheeroan AkLaff, Rashied Ali, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, Michael Formanek, Mick Goodrick, Tim Hagans, Billy Hart, Jack McDuff, Paul Motian, Toots Thielemans, and Roland Vasquez. He was a member of Marc Johnson’s Right Brain Patrol (s/t, JMT, ’92), and is currently a member of the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra (Evanescence, ’94, and Coming About, ’96, Enja), Lee Konitz’s trio, and the Patrick Zimmerli Ensemble (Explosion, Songlines 1508, ’95). His own trio’s second CD will be released this fall on Arabesque. Ben can also be heard on disc with David Binney (The Luxury of Guessing, ’95, Audioquest), Chris Dahlgren (Slow Commotion, ’96, Koch), Tim Ries, and Rémi Bolduc.

Skuli Sverrisson has appeared on over 30 records with Icelandic artists, including his group Pax Vobis, and with Mo Boma (formed with Carsten Tiedemann). He tours and records with Allan Holdsworth (Hard Hat Area, Cream), and has appeared with Leo Smith, Derek Bailey, Peter Brotzmann, and Tim Berne, collaborated with Arto Lindsay, Towa Tei and Peter Scherer, and currently plays with Pachora, Erik Friedlander, and Gregg Bendian. He and Jim Black are also part of Chris Speed’s group Yeah No. His first solo record (Sermonie, Extreme) features tape compositions showing his interest in electronics and extended techniques of his instrument.

Jim Black has toured and/or recorded extensively, including with Tim Berne’s Bloodcount, Dave Douglas’s Tiny Bell Trio (Songlines, hatART and Arabesque), Ellery Eskelin (Songlines and forthcoming on hatART), Michael Formanek (Enja), Ned Rothenberg (Moers), Saft/Vu (Avant), and Ed Schuller (Tutu). Recently he has worked with Mark Dresser, Ray Anderson, Kenny Wheeler, Tomasz Stanko, Lee Konitz, and Dewey Redman. His own quartet includes Chris Speed, Anthony Coleman and Tony Scherr, and he is a founding member of the coop groups Human Feel (GM, New World, and Songlines) and Pachora.

“[Bleckmann’s] utterances can seem like an aural Rorschach of Arabic tongue clicking, Japanese machinery noise, and bird chirping, while still remaining unaffected and accessible. No little credit is due to his companion Monder…Together they take you to rich new places worth getting to.” — Andrew Velez, OUT Magazine

“Bleckmann doesn’t need words to be eerily articulate and fun. He hears and sings sounds of experience in ‘other places’ most ordinary mortals don’t know about…Monder provides subtly sensual partnering.” — Andrew Velez, HX

**** “There is a certain abstract, esoteric quality to much of the music…Monder is a wonderfully creative guitarist who is equally effective whether he launches atmospheric blasts or post-bop cascades. Bleckmann has an unusually slithery voice, which he yodels, twists, and stretches like putty. He blends nicely with the trio, resulting in some highly attractive pieces.” — Steven A. Loewy, Allmusic.com

“Bleckmann seems to possess to the same degree of perfection the vocal techniques of the most diverse cultures….It’s an original style that here confirms his greatness, and the emotions that go with it…A major success.” — Philippe Méziat, Jazz Magazine (France)

“Bleckmann is a vocal acrobat, he is capable of interpreting ballads most sensitively and puts so much yearning into his voice that your heart almost breaks.” — Angelika Arians-Derix, Keys