Musician Guides/Current Calendar Ranking

Verified Global Musician

Ben Wendel

Ben Wendel is a Brooklyn-based saxophonist, bassoonist, composer, producer, bandleader, and educator whose work joins ensembles and multimedia.

Saxophone and bassoonComposerProducerBandleader4 current shows

Photo source · Photo: Tore Sætre, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Career Overview

About Ben Wendel

Wendel's official biography identifies the Vancouver-born, Los Angeles-raised musician as a Brooklyn-based performer, composer, and producer. It documents his role as a founding member of Kneebody and a leader catalog spanning Simple Song through Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard.[1][2]

His project pages add multimedia and production context: The Seasons began as twelve duet videos, while SOL links solo saxophone, dance, video, light, and responsive technology. High Heart and All One document Wendel as saxophonist, bassoonist, composer, arranger, producer, and layered multi-instrumentalist.[3][4][5][6]

Ensembles and Career Threads

Bands & Projects

Founding member and saxophonist

Kneebody

Wendel's biography and discography identify the collaborative group as a sustained branch of his recording and touring work.[1][2]

Creator, composer, and multi-instrumentalist

The Seasons

The project began as monthly duet films inspired by Tchaikovsky's cycle and later became an album and live ensemble work.[3]

Solo saxophonist and co-creator

SOL

SOL is an immersive collaboration with director Ruben Van Leer in which music, dance, projected image, and light interact in real time.[4]

Selected, Not Exhaustive

Recordings to Know

2020 · Edition Records

High Heart

Leader, saxophonist, bassoonist, composer, and producer

Wendel's fifth leader album features Shai Maestro, Gerald Clayton, Michael Mayo, Joe Sanders, and Nate Wood.[5]

Release details

2023 · Edition Records

All One

Solo multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer with invited duet partners

Wendel builds each track from layered woodwinds before adding a different guest collaborator, including Bill Frisell and Cécile McLorin Salvant.[6]

Release details

2024 · Edition Records

Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard

Leader, saxophonist, and composer

The live album documents Wendel's working quintet at the Village Vanguard with complete audio and personnel.[7][2]

Release details

Artist-Authorized Destinations

Start Listening

Official Bandcamp

Hear Wendel's recent Edition Records leader albums, including High Heart, All One, Understory, and BaRcoDe.

Official video library

Watch project films, live performances, studio sessions, and educational videos selected by Wendel.

Live Calendar

Upcoming Jazz DateBook Shows

Fri, Sep 11, 7:00 PM

Kevin Hays - Album Release

The Jazz Gallery · New York

Show details

Fri, Sep 11, 9:00 PM

Kevin Hays - Album Release

The Jazz Gallery · New York

Show details

Sat, Sep 12, 7:00 PM

Kevin Hays - Album Release

The Jazz Gallery · New York

Show details

Sat, Sep 12, 9:00 PM

Kevin Hays - Album Release

The Jazz Gallery · New York

Show details

Sources

Career copy is original synthesis from the artist, label, and project sources below. Current dates come from Jazz DateBook event inventory.

  1. [1] Official biography

    Ben Wendel

  2. [2] Official complete discography

    Ben Wendel

  3. [3] Official Seasons project guide

    Ben Wendel

  4. [4] Official SOL multimedia project guide

    Ben Wendel

  5. [5] High Heart release and personnel

    Edition Records

  6. [6] All One project and recording guide

    Ben Wendel

  7. [7] Understory release and audio

    Ben Wendel