First Los Angeles Appearance by Acclaimed, Virtuosic duo Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder at

- On September 15, 2010 at 8:30pm The Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder Duo will make their Los Angeles debut. Angel City Arts, the non-profit organization responsible for producing the Angel City Jazz Festival, will present the duo in an exclusive one-night only concert at Royal T in Culver City as part of the duo’s 2010 U.S. west coast tour.

Guitarist Ben Monder’s last visit to Los Angeles was met with tremendous excitement and a sold out concert and the anticipation for his return has been building up ever since.

For over 15 years, the duo has frequently toured the U.S., Europe and Asia creating a unique approach to what might be called “jazz art song”, blurring the boundaries between jazz, classical, ambient and rock. ...

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- On September 15, 2010 at 8:30pm The Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder Duo will make their Los Angeles debut. Angel City Arts, the non-profit organization responsible for producing the Angel City Jazz Festival, will present the duo in an exclusive one-night only concert at Royal T in Culver City as part of the duo’s 2010 U.S. west coast tour.

Guitarist Ben Monder’s last visit to Los Angeles was met with tremendous excitement and a sold out concert and the anticipation for his return has been building up ever since.

For over 15 years, the duo has frequently toured the U.S., Europe and Asia creating a unique approach to what might be called “jazz art song”, blurring the boundaries between jazz, classical, ambient and rock.

Bleckmann’s vocal style is based on a thorough understanding of the jazz vocal tradition as well as “extended vocal techniques” (he has been a principal in Meredith Monk’s Vocal Ensemble since 1994). He also uses electronic looping and processing in order to create choral and textural soundscapes. Film fans will note that Bleckmann created the alien language used in the film Men In Black. Bleckmann was recently interviewed by Terry Gross for Fresh Air on NPR and received a GRAMMY™ nomination in 2010 for his CD of Ives songs with Kneebody.

Monder, a regular with the Maria Schneider Orchestra and Paul Motian’s band, has developed a compositional style to exploit the full textural potential of the guitar; his playing is influenced as much by classical technique as jazz.

The duo’s continued collaborations on both Bleckmann’s “Origami” and Monder’s “Excavation” and “Oceana” have garnered great critical acclaim world-wide.

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