Transition[s] by PHIL HAYNES // BEN MONDER

Hardcopy collector's CD available via:
www.cornerstorejazz.com/product/transitions/

During Covid’s isolation, I began dreaming of projects that might inspire a sixth artful decade. Engineer Jon Rosenberg urged that I “Do the Art Blakey and Anthony Braxton thing”, hiring young up and coming performers. While such an infusion of youthfulness seemed obvious, such a change wasn’t instantaneous to actualize -- though I have begun working with the stirring 28 year old tenor titan, Peyton Pleninger (so stay tuned, ye intrepid listeners!).

Since I depend upon initial artistic chemistry appraisals to guide choices for collaboration, residing in ‘centrally isolated’ Pennsylvania over the past 20 years has created challenges. As now, personally meeting and playing with the next generation of artists is far more cumbersome than when living at my ole Brooklyn Corner Store (a ‘80’s - ‘90’s clearing house for like-minded artists who were also Chasing The Masters [www.chasingthemasters.com].

Hence, while it’s taken longer than anticipated to identify a group of refreshing new creatives to grow with, it did occur that there were several cats from my NYC era with whom I shared mutual magic, yet had not recorded. Ben Monder was at the very top of that short list.

As it happened, in addition to numerous jams with others back in the day, Ben and I would gather every few weeks to months, over a couple of years, just to play duets. Blowing our minds & souls out over Coltrane’s "Transition" became a ritual. I can scarcely forget the multiple times we’d start sessions with a 20 - 40 minute rendition of the iconic theme, then rinsing & repeating a reprise, before heading up the street to Joe’s Pizza for eggplant parmigiana heroes. Upon returning to digest and extend ‘da hang’, we’d often finish with yet another close encounter performing ‘Trane’s epic (coincidentally a kind of tri-energy trinity, ala J.C., or… ?).

Fast forward to early June of 2024 when ultimately we reunited - after a ¼ century of not once playing together - rekindling a friendship and chemistry around Transition anew. This time readily framed and updated in the studio by an outpouring of spontaneous composition tactics discovered, simmered, and distilled from decades of exploring separately.

Our very first sounds mingled and thrilled to aptly create "Openings", before traversing an essentially cinematic flow of thematic title suggestions -- with ‘space being the place’ in and around "Transition", as well as the session’s surprise standard, "I Fall in Love Too Easily". Eventually, we concluded with our own "Epilogue". An entire album in just a couple of jewel-like hours, enhanced by a typically glorious June midday, united back in Brooklyn (with another belch worthy lunch to boot, yo!).

Digest well,
~ph

25 year NYC veteran drummer, composer and bandleader of singular voice and stirring stylistic range, from the innovative avant-garde to romantic ballads, Americana, ambient & adventurous modern jazz classics. philhaynes.com cornerstorejazz.com