Simple Song (album)

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Simple Song
Simple Song Album Cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 24, 2009 (2009-03-24)
RecordedJune, 2007
StudioCastle Oaks Studio, Los Angeles
Genre
Length67:40
Label Sunnyside Records
Producer François Zalacain

Simple Song is a contemporary jazz album by saxophonist Ben Wendel, released on March 24, 2009. The album features a collection of neo-bop jazz compositions. [1]

Contents

Guest musicians on the album include pianists Tigran Hamasyan, Taylor Eigsti, and Adam Benjamin, [2] with guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Darek Oleszkiewicz, and drummer Nate Wood.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Michael Nastos of AllMusic wrote, "these are complex, intricate composed pieces requiring a good deal of rehearsal, and it sounds like they got them right for the recording session. With a combined sense of ease interacting and a great sense of teamwork, this band brings to life a set of heady compositions perfectly suited for the time period at the end of the 2000s." [4] Raul d'Gama Rose, writing for All About Jazz, described the album as "anything but simple in its approach to the idiom of jazz, [with] Wendel sweep[ing] across a sonic landscape with invention [...] thus [having] been able to create a tonal palette of seemingly epic proportions as he pushes his reeds on an endless, dancing journey." [3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ben Wendel except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Breath" 4:43
2."Simple Song" 6:58
3."Not Yet" 5:53
4."Chorale" 1:30
5."No Thank You Mr. West" 7:07
6."Lonnie's Lament" John Coltrane 8:45
7."Maupin" 5:43
8."Ralph" 8:16
9."A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" Billy Strayhorn 5:47
10."Trust Fall" 6:05
11."She Never Had" 6:53
Total length:67:40

Personnel

Production

References

  1. "Simple Song, by Ben Wendel". Bandcamp . Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  2. "Ben Wendel – Simple Song". Discogs . 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Rose, Raul d'Gama (April 8, 2009). "Ben Wendel: Simple Song". All About Jazz . Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  4. 1 2 Nastos, Michael G. "Ben Wendel - Simple Song | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved September 5, 2023.