Percussionist/composer Gregg Bendian is an unusual character: a musician with serious free jazz credentials who also professes a fondness for 1970's-style progressive rock. Regardless of musical category, Gregg Bendian's Interzone is a phenomenal ensemble and the band's second release, Myriad on the Atavistic label, is its strongest statement so far. The CD's closest stylistic antecedent might be the initial incarnation of Pierre Moerlen's Gong, which during the late '70s featured {...   [ read more ]

CD $14.20

One of the most storied graphic artists of the 20th century, Jack Kirby was a legend in the comics world. Requiem for Jack Kirby is a post-bop salute to this visionary comic artist by percussionist Gregg Bendian (here on vibes and occasional glockenspiel) with his regular collaborators Nels Cline (alternating between clean and melodic Wes Montgomery-like guitar lines and harsher sounds like the angular, staccato plucking of "The Mother Box"), no-nonsense bassist Joel Hamilton, and f...   [ read more ]

CD $15.15

In the liner notes to this recording, bandleader Gregg Bendian cites the 1970s-era progressive rock band Gentle Giant as a primary influence on his life as a musician. All the musical concepts he applies so effortlessly on his many recordings and in concerts with all manner of players he attributes to hearing Gentle Giant's Free Hand album in the mid-'70s. This recording is a tribute of sorts to their influence, though Bendian himself has composed all the music here. Props aside, this is ...   [ read more ]

CD $14.20