Building on the success of his 2021 solo debut Dio C’è (“wildly ambitious” — AllMusic) and his co-led 2018 effort with pianist Jason Yeager All at Onceness, alto saxophonist Randal Despommier returns to the Soapbox Gallery with A Midsummer Odyssey (Sunnyside), a captivating duo session with guitarist extraordinaire Ben Monder. The central focus is the highly accessible yet always enigmatic music of Swedish baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin (1928-1976). Alternately boppish, cool, bluesy, folkish and chamber-like, Gullin’s pieces afford the Despommier/Monder duo endless opportunities for fresh reinvention. “The goal of this project,” writes Despommier in the liner notes, “was to tap into the spirit of Gullin’s music and present it in a new way. I’m grateful to Ben Monder for joining me on this journey. He helped me hear Gullin’s music differently and added a richness and depth I did not think possible.”
A multi-genre saxophonist from New Orleans who “blends the suavity of Paul Desmond with the intensity of Dave Binney” (Musically Speaking), Despommier has captivated audiences at venues including Carnegie Hall (Weill),the Regattabar, the Qintai Concert Hall, the Lillajazzfestivalen, Soapbox Gallery, and Snug Harbor with the John Mahoney Bigband.
Despommier is also a passionate educator who has given masterclasses on improvisation at Berklee College of Music, taught jazz history with the Bard College Prison Initiative, and directed the music program at Bard High School Early College in New York City. Currently he teaches music theory at Third Street Music Settlement. He lives in Manhattan.
Supporting Musicians: 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, Billy Childs, Andrew Cyrille, George Garzone, Paul Motian, Maria Schneider, Louis Cole, Marshall Crenshaw and Jandek. He also contributed guitar parts to the last David Bowie album, Blackstar. Ben conducts clinics and workshops around the world, and has served on the faculties of the New England Conservatory and the New School. He was the recipient of a Doris Duke Impact Award in 2014, and a Shifting Foundation grant in 2013. Ben continues to perform original music internationally in solo and trio settings, and in a long standing duo project with vocalist Theo Bleckmann. He has appeared on over 200 CDs as a sideman, and has released 7 as a leader: Day After Day (Sunnyside, 2019) Amorphae (ECM, 2015), Hydra (Sunnyside, 2013), Oceana (Sunnyside, 2005), Excavation (Arabesque, 2000), Dust (Arabesque, 1997), and Flux (Songlines,1995).
https://www.randaldespommier.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rdespommier