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Ben Thomas (US)

In demand as a performer and educator, Ben Thomas combines an energetic performance technique with a distinctive compositional style. As a vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandoneon player, he can be found playing tango, jazz, chamber music and Latin jazz throughout the Northwest.

Ben has released four albums of original compositions on Origin Records as a leader or co-leader, including “The Madman’s Difference”, “The Mystagogue”, and “Triskaidekaphobia”. His most recent CD, “Yet What Is Any Ocean…”, was declared “an outstanding album with some interesting compositions and performances alike” by allmusic.com.

In addition to leading tango and Latin jazz groups, Ben co-leads TORCH, a chamber group dedicated to both 20th century music and original compositions.

Since 2005, Ben has been a member of Brazilian pianist/composer Jovino Santos Neto’s Quinteto. Their most recent album is “Current” on the Adventure Music label.

Over the years, Ben has performed at the Stowe Tango Music Festival, Bumbershoot Arts Festival, Ballard Jazz Festival, Earshot Jazz Festival, Detroit-Montreaux Jazz Festival, Issaquah Jazz Festival, Anacortes Arts Festival, Ellensburg Jazz in the Valley Festival, Tacoma Maritime Festival, Bellingham Art of Jazz Series, and the Juneau Jazz and Classics Festival.

Ben has composed for chamber groups, big bands, jazz combos, dance and theater. Well respected as an educator, Ben is the head of the Music Department at Highline College, where he teaches music theory, percussion, and piano. As an adjunct at Cornish College of the Arts, he has taught percussion, jazz history, and the Tango Ensemble. Working as a clinician/educator, Ben has taught clinics and masterclasses at colleges across the country. He is an Artist-Endorser for Malletech Instruments and for A. Putnam Mallets.

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12
Album Review

Ben Thomas: Eternal Aporia

Read "Eternal Aporia" reviewed by Jane Kozhevnikova


For some people, tango means the dance with a stereotypical red rose between the teeth. For Ben Thomas, a percussionist and bandoneonist from Seattle, tango is much more than that: it has been an important part of his life for at least fifteen years before the 2022 release of Eternal Aporia. The album includes twelve of his original compositions mixing tango with jazz and classical chamber music. Joining Thomas on the album are Eric Likkel (clarinets) and ...

28
Album Review

Ben Thomas (US): Eternal Aporia

Read "Eternal Aporia" reviewed by Jack Bowers


They say it takes two to tango. On Ben Thomas' new album, Eternal Aporia ("uncertainty; doubt"), it takes at least three, and sometimes half a dozen. That's not a bad thing, as Thomas' splendid core trio is fleshed out on three numbers by cellist Gretchen Vanover and on two others by Vanover, violinist Brandon Vance and pianist Jonathan Greer, making the tango more lustrous and enchanting than ever. Thomas himself plays vibraphone, bandoneon and percussion, leading a burnished threesome whose ...

3
Album Review

Ben Thomas' Endless Mountain Region: Ben Thomas' Endless Mountain Region

Read "Ben Thomas' Endless Mountain Region" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Ben Thomas' Endless Mountain Region, the debut album by this eponymous trio led by bassist Thomas--is dedicated, according to Thomas' rather funky website, “to exploring the freedom of a chordless trio." It undertakes this exploration on a series of original tunes--three each from Thomas and drummer Aaron Staebell, one from saxophonist Tony Malaby--and a version of saxophonist Ornette Coleman's “WRU," all of which were recorded live at Rochester, New York's Contemporary Art Center in November 2010.Thomas and Staebell ...

156
Album Review

Ben Thomas: The Mystagogue

Read "The Mystagogue" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Seattle vibraphonist Ben Thomas offers a swinging, pulsing quintet sound on his second release, The Mystagogue. Thomas augments his core vibe/piano quartet with one of three clarinet and saxophone players on most of the tracks on the record, lending a ever-changing fifth voice to the ensemble. While the combination of piano and vibes might suggest the danger of over-crowding the midrange, Thomas and pianist Laura Caviani respect each other's space.

Thomas reserves his instrument for reinforcing the melody and embarking ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Eternal Aporia

Origin Records
2022

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Ben Thomas' Endless...

Lungbasket Records
2012

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The Mystagogue

Origin Records
2001

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Yet What Is Any...

Origin Records
0

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Tangent 7

From: Eternal Aporia
By Ben Thomas (US)

Put the Ball in the Box

From: Yet What Is Any Ocean...
By Ben Thomas (US)

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