OTS SFO #012 with Ben Allison - Part 1 of 3

06/27/17 • 74 min

Ridgeway Radio Presents: On The Scene SFO

New York Based, Bassist, Composer, Recording Artist, and Educator, Ben Allison has a career that spans several decades.

Ben has established himself at the forefront of modern jazz and creative music. A disciple of the jazz canon, rock, folk, 20th Century Classical music, and improvisational music from around the world, he firmly believes in the notion that the tradition of jazz is to move the music forward. He was a founding member of the Jazz Composers Collective that produced more than 100 performances in New York and abroad, new music, and annual concerts in the region for 11 seasons. One could add one time club owner (Kush), and now producer, record label owner, and artist advocate activist to his CV, with that last part highlighted by virtue of Ben's position as current President of the Board of the New York chapter of the Recording Academy. With more than 11 recordings out under his various group configurations, such as Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel, Peace Pipe, and Think Free bands, he is now releasing his second recording on his Sonic Camera label imprint, with ‘Layers of the City’. A set of new compositions featuring Ben with Guitarist, Steve Cardenas, Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, Pianist Frank Kimbrough, and Allan Mednard on Drums. We spoke with Ben about his new recording, composing process, audience engagement, leanings toward activism and advocacy, worldview, and development as a recording artist.

With such a rich and densely packed career, we couldn’t possibly fit it into a brief discussion, so we have broken our conversation into several parts.

Tracks featured throughout Episode #012 Part 1 of 3:

Get Me Offa This Thing - Layers of the City
The Detective’s Wife - Layers of the City
Green AL - Think Free
Neutron Star - The Stars Look Very Different Today
Jazz Scene Voyeur - Riding the Nuclear Tiger
Emergency - Cowboy Justice
Blowback - Layers of the City
Dakan - Peace Pipe
Mantra - Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel, Third Eye

New York Based, Bassist, Composer, Recording Artist, and Educator, Ben Allison has a career that spans several decades.

With such a rich and densely packed career, we couldn’t possibly fit it into a brief discussion, so we have broken our conversation into several parts.

Tracks featured throughout Episode #012 Part 1 of 3:

Get Me Offa This Thing - Layers of the City
The Detective’s Wife - Layers of the City
Green AL - Think Free
Neutron Star - The Stars Look Very Different Today
Jazz Scene Voyeur - Riding the Nuclear Tiger
Emergency - Cowboy Justice
Blowback - Layers of the City
Dakan - Peace Pipe
Mantra - Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel, Third Eye

Previous Episode

OTS SFO #011 with Matthew Szlachetka

Matthew Szlachetka, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and producer. Originally from the state of Massachusets, Matthew is now Nashville based after being a long-time resident of Los Angeles.

His roots rock and Americana style is familiar with audiences all around the U.S. through his various songwriting partnerships, and ultimately as a diligent touring solo artist.

At home playing lead on electric guitar in his studio recordings, he is more likely to have an acoustic guitar in his hands with songs that fit neatly into the sensibilities of giants like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan. And with his new full-length recording entitled “Heart of my Hometown” slated for release in 2017, it is no wonder, as the product is produced by Grammy Award winning producer and engineer, David Bianco, who's credits include all of the aforementioned, as well as Mick Jagger, Lucinda Williams, and many more of diverse styles.

We feature excerpts from both 2017's forthcoming release, “Heart of my Hometown”, and 2014’s “Waits for a storm to Find” throughout our discussion.

Tracks Featured Throughout Episode #011:

Ladder to the Stars - Heart of My Hometown
Wildflowers on the Highway - Heart of My Hometown
Algebra - Heart of My Hometown
Back Into Your Heart - Waits For A Storm to Find
Cheated Time - Heart of My Hometown
I Can’t Look At Your Face - Waits For A Storm to Find
Carry Me Home - Waits For A Storm to Find
Until That Echo - Heart of My Hometown
Don’t You Think It’s Time - Heart of My Hometown
Heart of My Hometown - Heart of My Hometown

Next Episode

OST SFO #012 with Ben Allison Part 2 of 3

We continue with Part two of our discussion with New York Based, Bassist, Composer, Recording Artist, and Educator, Ben Allison. In Part one we discussed the process leading up to the recording of the new album, stylistic choices made, curators of taste, the Salsa scene of Newhaven Connecticut, Production techniques, the visceral experience of music and physical product, becoming an entrepreneur, cultural diplomacy through music, and finally, turning audiences on to jazz through dialog and live performance. We resume our discussion with Part two to further unbox Ben’s viewpoint on the intrinsic value of music, the importance of copyrights, the benefits of an extended career in jazz, touring life, advocacy and engaging with politicians, and how that is channeled into his creative process. We also reference a conversation surrounding Ben’s personal approach to composing, and how it yielded some of the tunes on his new recording, ‘Layers of the City’.

Tracks featured throughout Episode #012 Part 2 of 3*: