Though the musical universe of guitarist Ben Monder is vast, the paths to his aural galaxies are rather solitary and arduous. It takes considerable time for Monder to create his unique, mind-bending recordings, as the practice, sculpting, and arranging can take years. His latest recording, Planetarium, is a prodigious piece of art that showcases the widest breadth of his vision as a composer and craftsman. Monder is well known for his tremendous guitar contributions to a wide range of artists, including David Bowie, Maria Schneider, Guillermo Klein, and, most recently, as a member of The Bad Plus. Though he may be most celebrated for these contributions, his own projects deserve equal attention, as they are personal, large-scale works utilizing a select coterie of trusted associates. Planetarium's inception began in 2014 when Monder was awarded a grant from The Shifting Foundation to write and record an album. While that project ultimately took a different direction, work on this one would continue for the next ten years. The effort was thrust into high gear when the pandemic hit, as there were few distractions to composing and practicing. During this time, Monder also received a commission to compose what would become the ambitious piece, "Ataraxia." A most helpful association for Monder has been with engineer and producer Joseph Branciforte, whose Greyfade Studio in Mount Vernon, New York became a sort of second home for him during the recording process. Beginning in December of 2020, the two began to meet frequently at the studio, setting down ideas and inviting collaborators to add their unique contributions. These integral guests included drummers Ted Poor and Satoshi Takeishi, bassist Chris Tordini, and vocalists Theo Bleckmann, Charlotte Mundy, and Emily Hurst. After three years of recording, Monder produced his grandest statement yet as a composer and conceptualist. This three-disc set features vast, highly wrought sound poems as well as spontaneous moments of improvisational brilliance.

Guitarist Ben Monder set out with the intent of recording a studio album with longtime collaborators, saxophonist Tony Malaby and drummer Tom Rainey, but circumstances led to a more informal situation, providing a visceral glimpse of these stellar musicians' rapport. // The performance world was on the brink of shutting down in early March 2020 due to the appearance of COVID-19. Monder decided to take the opportunity provided by his monthly Tuesday residency at New York City's stalwart jazz club, The 55 Bar, to present a recurring project with Malaby, a bass-less trio with drums. Rainey commanded the revolving drum chair on March 3rd and the two sets were recorded as a remarkable live document of fully improvised music making from three masters, released now as Live at The 55 Bar. // Three long improvisations were recorded that night, each piece unfolding organically. The ebb and flow and the building of tension to release demonstrate just how confident these musicians are in their craft of composing on the fly, in full control of their musical choices. The recording was made by the brilliant producer Joseph Branciforte, who was able to provide gorgeous studio quality sound and help with the narrative arc for the completed recording.

Júlia Karosi writes of her new album: "I always wondered whether music belongs to any of the dimensions as theorized in the "standard model" in modern physics. I summarized my subjective answer as the title of this album. I believe that music's apparent lack of dimensions pertains to it's unique ability to lift us humans into a sphere of existence where we become unaware of time and space. I also believe that these timeless experiences are usually tied to specific events in our lives, - often catching us unawares of their significance - the very moments that make our lives worth living for. I considered some unforgettable moments in my own life with the programmatic titles in my original compositions in this album. Rebirth reflects on the birth of my son followed by Insomnia (obviously), Words and Beyond is a conflict between verbal and non-verbal forms of expression. Madeleine Moment is a musical quote of Marcel Proust's poetic description of involuntary memory in his In Search of Lost Time. In this album I wish to pay a "jazz tribute" to two of the greatest Hungarian composers of the twentieth century, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály with arrangements and jazz transcriptions of their works. I hope they wouldn't mind!"

On their stunning duo release Bloom, guitarist Ben Monder & saxophonist Bill McHenry boldly exhibit total simpatico, complete trust in each other and the ability to thoroughly listen to each other to bring forth a true work of musical art. On ten tracks, they take the listener to a spectacular sound world of textural chords, evocative percussive effects, spontaneously created melodies and deep musical telepathy. Monder, whom Pat Metheny described as "a very evolved kind of musician" and the New York Times wrote was "a terror on his instrument" plays with an ethereal sound - a mainstay with a variety of artists from Paul Motian to Norah Jones - purrs instead of pounces, seduces rather than shouts, and caresses instead of crashes.