Ben Allison Releases Action-Refraction

Ben Allison: Action-RefractionBassist/composer Ben Allison has released his tenth album as a bandleader, entitled Action-Refraction. The disc features Allison’s takes on songs by his favorite artists, including PJ Harvey, Donny Hathaway, Thelonious Monk, Neil Young, Samuel Barber and Roger Nichols. This is a new approach for the composer as only one of the tracks, Broken, is an original.

The idea for the album came when the bassist wanted “to refract some of my favorite tunes through the prism of an electro-acoustic orchestra featuring two electric guitars, bass clarinet, saxophone, analog synthesizer, piano, acoustic bass and drums.”

“The album is full of ‘happy accidents’ – unplanned moments that capture a musical conversation in flux,” he explains.

Preview and download Action-Refraction:

Action-Refraction Track List:

  1. Jackie-ing (Monk)
  2. Missed (PJ Harvey)
  3. Some Day We’ll All Be Free (Hathaway)
  4. Philadelphia (Young)
  5. St Ida’s Vision (Barber)
  6. We’ve Only Just Begun (Williams, Nichols)
  7. Broken (Allison)

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