‘Ben Wendel Seasons Band’

 “Ben Wendel has a keen ability to balance intellectual curiosity with emotional and melodic impact.” (Downbeat)

Releasing twelve new compositions in just twelve months’ time, dedicated to twelve musicians he admires. De hip Kneebody’s founder Ben Wendel’s crazy idea has resulted in some highly unusual, richly-layered and surprising music for duos!

A saxophonist? Check. Who also plays the bassoon and the piano? Check. Who founded the hip and completely unique band Kneebody and was instantly nominated for a Grammy? Check. Who has performed as a sideman for Snoop Dogg and Daedelus? Check… While we have no idea what Ben Wendel’s bucket list looks like, we can’t conceivably think what else he may still want to achieve. Recently he was able to strike another item off his list: release twelve new compositions in just twelve months’ time, dedicated to twelve musicians he hugely admires. Wendel took inspiration for this unique project from classical music: “I fell in love with a set of twelve piano pieces written by Tchaikovsky called The Seasons – each piece was written for a different month in 1876 and at the time published in a music magazine.  Inspired by this idea, I decided to compose a twelve-part cycle of chamber duos […]. Instead of a magazine, I am using the medium of video to publish the works.” The unusually rich and surprising outcome of Wendel’s crazy idea sounds even better live, by the way!