ARTIST: Brian Bender and the World Beatniks
ALBUM: URBAN JUNGLE
CATALOG #: FTM-2007
DURATION: 1:030:05
- BLUE HORIZON
- THIS PLACE
- TRINIDAD
- PANGAEA
- ARTIK
- JAH SPIRIT
- GUMBO JUMBO
- HEBRAISH
- HIP, HOP & JUMP
One of the things I love about doing the “World Groove” reviews for J!-ENT is the ability to review music from artists worldwide.
The latest album that I’m currently listening to comes from Brian Bender, a professional musician and composer based in Northeastern USA and plays trombone, keyboards, melodica, trumpet, percussion and also vocals.
He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Presidential Inaguration of Bil Clinton, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, Israel, West Africa and throughout the United States.
The album that I’ve been listening to is “URBAN JUNGLE” which features special musical guests Eric Krasno on guitar, Adam Deitch on drums, Charles Neville on sax and Jose Gonzalez on guitar and cuatro.
The album is literally a smörgåsbord of music featuring reggae, afrobeat, calypso, turkish, slow reggae, second line, klezmer/arabic and funk.
When I first played the album and listened to “BLUE HORIZON”, although listed as reggae, I got that Harry Connick, Jr. New Orleans blues style of feel (and I love Connick, Jr.’s music). But it’s a very cool song and Bender’s trombone and Dace Boatright’s guitar definitely gives that “feel-good” groove that makes this song quite enjoyable.
For the second track “THIS PLACE”, Bender goes “Funk-Afrobeat” in the style of Fela Kuti and features special musical guests Eric Krasno (Soulive, Lettuce), Adam Deitch (John Scofield, Lettuce) and Charles Neville (Neville Brothers) and also to hear Eric Krasno playing electric guitar (lead and rhythm) and electric bass. Definitely enjoyed the funky style of this song and very cool to hear Bender jamming on the electric piano on this track.
For the third track titled “TRINIDAD”, a calypso piece that has that old school Carribean music. Trinidad for those not familiar with the name is an island which Calypso originated from and brings together Afro-Carribean music with a bit of French, Spanish and British styles (I say that to be safe because there is always a hardcore debate of where Calypso music is derived from). Nevertheless, a cool track and Ken LaRoche does an awesome job on flute.
For the fourth track “PANGAEA”, the song is a jazz-samba piece and I love Samba and the whole band jams, especially Bender on the keyboard (vibes) but Jim Weber on the drums and Brazilian percussion (surdo, agogo bell, shaker, cuica and tamborim) is just ultimately sweet! Also, the bass playing from Genevieve Rose is entrancing as well and loved the transition to Jose Gonzalez on acoustic guitar and cuatro. Just awesome!
For the fifth track titled “ARTIK” which is a bonus track utilizing traditional Turkish melody which Bender learned from two young Turkish musicians. A song done very well and Alicia Svigal’s violin playing definitely stood out in my mind. Overall, an awesome song.
The eith track titled “HEBRAISH” is a Klezmer melody arranged with a Turkish-Arabic rhythm and reuniting two of the original members of the Klezmatics (Frank London and Alicia Svigal). Frank London’s trumpet playing is awesome and Alicia Svigals was outstanding again!
The CD comes with an insert with credits to the musicians and a little foreword on each track by Brian Bender. The case is the fold out cases featuring Bender and the World Beatniks.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of “URBAN JUNGLE” which has stayed in my musical rotation for over a week now and found this album to be musically delightful on all fronts.
I really enjoyed Bender’s choice of tracks by giving music listeners various musical styles and his choice of musicians involved for this album was well-selected.
So, all in all, a great diversity of music featuring talented musicians and showcasing the musical talent of Brian Bender and making this definitely highlighting his talent as a musician and a composer.
I highly recommend this awesome album!
NOTE: Bender has since released a new album titled “EYN VELT” ala Brian Bender and Little Shop of Horas. I’ll be reviewing soon on J!-ENT World Groove!