| Jazz Fusion |
This album is something of a UFO in the jazz galaxy, imagine MFSB teaming up with Van Halen, with Yes brought in to handle the musical arrangements. And yet, it’s far more than a stylistic curiosity. It’s a superb jazz-fusion record in its own right, one that took six years to come to fruition. That long gestation period wasn’t wasted, this is a work of careful craftsmanship, a statement of sound identity from musicians who know exactly who they are and what they’re doing.
Reach is also an opportunity, for the band and their listeners, to take stock of Kneebody’s impact on today’s musical landscape, where improvised, electric, and eclectic music blends seamlessly with indie rock, hip-hop, and electronic textures in the most forward-thinking playlists. “We’re no longer the new kids on the block,” says saxophonist Ben Wendel. “I’ve had time to look back and appreciate the sound we’ve created, and to realize just how much of an impact it’s had on our scene. It’s a legacy moment, in a way.”
This is, undeniably, an urban album, one that echoes Miles Davis’s thoughts around the release of Doo-Bop, when he remarked that the sounds of tomorrow would come from the suburbs, from the cities. Reach bears those marks: the pulse of concrete, the aftershocks of post-industrial life. Some may pass this album by, finding it too radical, but they’d be missing the point. Kneebody’s approach is singular, yes, but it’s not without its own brand of charm and poetry.
Produced by the band themselves, Reach is also the first Kneebody studio album recorded entirely with the current lineup: Ben Wendel on saxophone, Shane Endsley on trumpet, Adam Benjamin on keys, and Nate Wood, who pulls off the near-impossible feat of playing drums and electric bass simultaneously. The format emerged after bassist Kaveh Rastegar left to pursue other projects, prompting Wood to reinvent his role within the group. “It forced me to completely rethink my concept of Kneebody, which I wanted to do anyway,” he explains. “I have to simplify, streamline my playing, make it more focused. And I love it, because I’ve never heard jazz that sounds like this before.”
The rhythm section is both the heartbeat and the lungs of the album; the melodies hover above it with a raw urban energy that suits the music’s spirit. “To say the band has become more elastic is probably the best way to put it,” adds Endsley. “There’s a lightness we’ve never experienced before.”
“Kneebody is the cornerstone of my identity,” says Wood. “I’ve been playing with these guys since I was 19, still in college. For me, there’s Kneebody, and then there’s everything else.”
Jazz fusion with a touch of the experimental, Kneebody isn’t here to please or pander. They’re here to reflect a culture too often absent from today’s creative output—and that’s how they should be appreciated. “You only get one chance to have old friends,” Wendel reflects. “I always wanted to be part of a group that grows together, musically and personally, over time. It’s a safe space for creating, sharing, going through things. Like a harbor, always ready to receive my ship.”
A harbor we return to, again and again, to question, to dream, to reconnect with the threads of our own intellectual journey. That, too, is art.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, April 26th 2025
Follow PARIS-MOVE on X
::::::::::::::::::::::
Musicians :
Ben Wendel – Saxophone
Shane Endsley – Trumpet
Adam Benjamin – Keyboards
Nate Wood – Drums & Bass
Tracklist:
Repeat After Me 3:55
Reach 3:50
Natural Bridge 4:37
Glimmer 3:16
Another One 4:36
Top Hat 5:10
Lo Hi 6:13
Long Walk 2:45
Say So 4:08
For DF 3:40