Ben Wendel

Ben Wendel is a Canadian-American jazz saxophonist, composer, bassoonist, and pianist. He is best known for being a founding member of the Grammy-nominated group Kneebody. He has also performed as a leader or sideman with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ignacio Berroa, Daedelus, Taylor Eigsti, Gerald Clayton, and Tigran Hamasyan.

Ben Wendel
BornVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentsSaxophone, Bassoon
LabelsMotema Music, Brainfeeder, Concord, Sunnyside
Associated actsKneebody, Tigran Hamasyan, Gerald Clayton
Websitebenwendel.com

Background

Grammy nominated saxophonist Ben Wendel was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and raised in Los Angeles. Currently living in Brooklyn, New York, he has enjoyed a varied career as a performer, composer and producer. Highlights include multiple domestic and international tours with artists such as Ignacio Berroa, Tigran Hamasyan, Antonio Sanchez, Gerald Clayton, Eric Harland, Taylor Eigsti, Snoop Dogg and the artist formerly known as Prince. Ben is a founding member of the Grammy nominated group Kneebody, currently signed with Motema Records and Brainfeeder Music.

As a composer, he has received an ASCAP Jazz Composer Award, the 2008 and 2011 Chamber Music America “New Works Grant” and most recently was awarded the Victor Lynch-Staunton award by the Canada Council For The Arts. He also co-wrote the score for John Krasinski’s adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men."

Ben was honored to work with conductor Kent Nagano in producing a series of concerts for the Festspiel Plus in Munich, Germany. From 2008 to 2015, he produced a multi-genre performance series at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, California. During that time he was appointed the head of their Jazz and Blues initiative, which included producing and expanding performance opportunities for these genres in Los Angeles. As part of this appointment, Ben helped to create an artistic council which included such luminaries as Quincy Jones, Herb Alpert and Luciana Souza. Ben's recent producer work includes the Grammy nominated album "Life Forum" for pianist Gerald Clayton on Concord Records.

Ben is a recording artist with Sunnyside Records, Motema Music, Concord Records and Brainfeeder, with three solo albums under his belt, Simple Song (2009), Frame (2012) and What We Bring (2016), a duo project with French-American pianist Dan Tepfer entitled Small Constructions (2013) and multiple Kneebody albums. His critically acclaimed music video project The Seasons, inspired by Tchaikovsky's works of the same name, was released throughout 2015 and included guests such as Joshua Redman, Jeff Ballard, Mark Turner, Julian Lage and more.

Ben is a former Adjunct Professor of Jazz Studies at USC and a current Adjunct at the New School in NYC. Educational outreach has been a constant in his career with over 250 masterclasses at various colleges, universities, high-schools and also previous work with the LA Philharmonic Artist Program. Center with guests Charles McPherson and Wes “Warm Daddy” Anderson.

Discography

As leader
  • 2009: Simple Song (Sunnyside)
  • 2012: Frame (Sunnyside)
  • 2016: What We Bring (Motéma Music)
  • 2018: The Seasons (Motéma Music)

With Kneebody

  • Wendel (2002)
  • Kneebody (2005)
  • Low Electrical Worker (2007)
  • Kneebody Live: Volume One' (2007)
  • Twelve Songs By Charles Ives (2009) (with Theo Bleckmann)
  • Kneebody Live: Volume Two: Live in Italy (2009)
  • You Can Have Your Moment (2010)
  • Kneebody Live: Volume Three: Live in Paris (2011)
  • The Line (2013)
  • Kneedelus (2015) (with Daedelus)
  • Anti-Hero (2017)
  • By Fire (2019)
  • Chapters (2019)

With ACT - Ben Wendel, Harish Raghavan, & Nate Wood

  • ACT (2009)
  • ACT II (2015)

With Dan Tepfer

  • Small Constructions (2013)

As sideman

With Ross McHenry

  • Nothing Remains Unchanged (2020)

With Terrace Martin

  • Sounds of Crenshaw & Jammcard present: Terrace Martin's Gray Area Live at the JammJam (2020)

With Joel Harrison

  • Still Point: Turning World (2019)

With Gerald Clayton

  • Tributary Tales (2017)

With Linda Oh

  • Sun Pictures (2013)
  • Walk Against Wind (2017)

With Matt Brewer

  • Unspoken (2016)

With Tigran Hamasyan

With David Cook

  • Scenic Design (2015)

With Guilheim Flousat

  • Portraits (2015)

With Phil Donkin

  • The Gate (2015)

With Roman Pilon

  • The Magic Eye (2015)

With Philip Dizak

  • Single Soul (2013)

With Moonchild

  • Be Free (2012)

With Todd Sickafoose

  • Blood Orange (2005)
  • Tiny Resistors (2008)

With Austin Peralta

  • Endless Planets (2011)

With Taylor Eigsti

  • Lucky To Be Me (2006)
  • Let It Come To You (2008)

With Otmaro Ruiz

  • Sojourn (2008)

With Tony Scott

  • A Jazz Life (2007)

With Daedelus

  • Spacesettings (2002)
  • Meanwhile... (2003)
  • Live Airplane Food (2003)
  • Invention (2003)
  • Tigerbeats 6 Inc. (2003)
  • Adventure Time (2003)

With Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra

  • Live at the North Beach Jazz Festival (2002)
  • Unfinished Symphony (2004)
  • Dakah Live @ Grand Performances (2004)

With Adam Rudolph

  • Go: Organic Orchestra: 1 (2002)
  • Go: Organic Orchestra: Web Of Light (2002)

With Good Charlotte

  • Good Morning Revival (2007)

With Marco Antonio Solis

  • Trozos de Mi Alma (2002)

With Michael Whittaker

  • Modern World (2006)

With Atlantiquity

  • Kleeer (2005)

With Jason Mraz

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References
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