Theo Bleckmann official site | Theo Bleckmann on Facebook | Ben Monder official site | Ben Monder on Facebook

GRAMMY® nominated jazz singer and new music composer Theo Bleckmann’s diverse recorded work includes albums of Las Vegas standards, Weimar art songs, and popular “bar songs” (all with pianist Fumio Yasuda); a recording of newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody); and his acclaimed “Hello Earth – the Music of Kate Bush.” Bleckmann has most recently appeared as a special guest on recordings by Ambrose Akinmusire for Blue Note Records and Julia Hülsmann’s trio for ECM Records. In January 2017, ECM released Bleckmann’s recording with his new Elegy Quintet, produced by legendary label head and founder, Manfred Eicher.

A musician in the New York City area for over 30 years, Ben Monder has performed with a wide variety of artists, including Jack McDuff, Marc Johnson, Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Paul Motian, Guillermo Klein, Maria Schneider, and Marshall Crenshaw. He also contributed guitar parts to the last David Bowie album, “Blackstar”. He has appeared on over 200 CDs as a sideman, and has released 6 as a leader: Amorphae (ECM, 2015), Hydra (Sunnyside, 2013), Oceana (Sunnyside, 2005), Excavation (Arabesque, 2000), Dust (Arabesque, 1997), and Flux (Songlines,1995).