Gregg Bendian

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Gregg Bendian (born July 13, 1963 in Englewood , New Jersey ) is an American vibraphonist , drummer , percussionist and composer of modern creative jazz .

Live and act

Bendian studied composers like Edgar Varèse and Anton Webern during his time in high school, and later with free jazz pioneers Cecil Taylor , Anthony Braxton and Ornette Coleman . He studied with Noel DaCosta at Rutgers University and had drum lessons with Steve McCall and Andrew Cyrille . While still a student, he worked with his Gregg Bendian Project , which experimented with new music and chamber music; During this time he began working with musicians from the New York downtown scene, such as John Zorn , Ned Rothenberg , Tom Cora , Bill Frisell , Butch Morris and Mark Dresser , but also with Wadada Leo Smith , George Lewis and Robert Dick .

He worked with Nels Cline , Derek Baileys Company , Peter Brötzmann , William Parker , Gary Lucas , Steuart Liebig and in 1989 with his idol Cecil Taylor since the 1980s . He also appeared on Taylor's A&M album In Florescence , which featured two solo percussion compositions by Bendian, For Steve McCall and Entity .

In 1996 Bendian performed with Derek Bailey, Pat Metheny and Paul Wertico at the Knitting Factory . The album Counterparts was released under his own name on the avant-garde label CIMP in 1996 with the participation of Paul Smoker , Vinny Golia and Mark Dresser ; From 1996 he released albums by his band Interzone which combined elements of fusion music and free jazz . With Interzone he recorded the Requiem for Jack Kirby in 2000 , a tribute album to a comic artist. Bendian and Nels Cline recorded the highly acclaimed album Interstellar Space Revisited , dedicated to John Coltrane in 1999 , which refers to Coltrane's legendary 1967 album Interstellar Space with Rashied Ali ; Bendian described it as his "love letter to free jazz drumming "

From 2002 Bendian began his Mahavishnu Project with compositions by John McLaughlin , which has so far been laid out on three albums; In 2006, ex-Mahavishnu member Jan Hammer also participated as a guest musician. From 2003 Bendian also worked in a quartet with Jeff Gauthier , Steuart Liebig and GE Stinson ( Bone Structure ).

In addition to his work on the jazz scene, Bendian works as a drummer and singer in the Genesis repertoire project The Musical Box .

Discographic notes

  • Counterparts (CIMP, 1996)
  • Interzone (Eremite, 1996) with Nels Cline, Mark Dresser
  • Espiritu (Truemedia, 1997) with Alex Cline
  • Trio Pianissismo (Truemedia, 1998)
  • Interstellar Space ( Atavistic , 1998) with Nels Cline
  • Myriad (Atavistic, 1999) with Steuart Liebig
  • Requiem for Jack Kirby (Atavistic, 2000)
  • The Mahavishnu Project (Aggregate, 2002)
  • Bone Structure ( Cryptogramophone Records , 2003)
  • Jan Hammer & The Mahavishnu Project (DVD, 2007 - MVDvisual)

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Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Quoted from Dave Lynach, All Music Guide; Originally: "my love letter to Free Jazz drumming".
personal data
SURNAME Bendian, Gregg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH July 13, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Englewood, New Jersey