Given his penchant for unique projects, it is nearly impossible to predict what saxophonist, composer, and sound architect Ben Wendel will do next. The title, BaRcoDe (Edition, 2026), a jagged version of ‘barcode,’ gives hints. As a barcode represents data by varying the widths, spacings, and sizes of parallel lines, Wendel’s music on this project takes a similar shape-shifting meaning in this unique electro-acoustic effort. He employs a stellar lineup of genre-blurring vibraphonists and percussionists – featuring Joel Ross, Simon Moullier, Patricia Brennan, and Juan Diego Villalobos. The group developed its sound across two multi-night residencies at The Jazz Gallery in 2023 and 2025, funded by a grant from the same organization.
Wendel himself boasts an impressive resume, including having two Grammy nominations to his credit, receiving recognition in 2024 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album (All One (Edition, 2023)) and Best Classical Crossover Album in 2010 (Twelve Songs by Charles Ives (Winter & Winter, 2009), a collaboration between Kneebody and Theo Bleckmann) His music — spanning post-bop, chamber music, modern composition, and electronic experimentation — has drawn praise for its range and originality. But those elements come naturally to the saxophonist. “This is just me continuing to be me. I just can’t seem to do normal projects,” Wendel states with a laugh. Case in point: All One, recorded during lockdown, featured an “orchestra of himself” — layered woodwinds of saxophone and bassoon with a different guest soloist on each track.
The other members of the ensemble have led no less impressive of careers. Joel Ross is a Blue Note recording artist who has redefined the vibraphone through acclaimed releases like KingMaker (Blue Note, 2019), The Parable of the Poet (Blue Note, 2022), nublues (Blue Note, 2024), and his recent 2-LP release Gospel Music (Blue Note, 2026). He is a widely sought-after sideman, widely regarded as one of his generation’s most expressive improvisers. Patricia Brennan boasts two of the most celebrated albums of the last two years – Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic, 2024) and Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic, 2025) – and has also worked with avant-garde luminaries like Mary Halvorson and John Zorn. Her use of extended techniques and real-time processing has allowed Brennan yo reimagine the vibraphone. Simon Moullier is best known for his custom quarter-tone vibraphone, which expands the instrument’s vocabulary with global idioms and electronics. Venezuelan-born percussionist Juan Diego Villalobos draws on Afro-Caribbean traditions and experimental electronics, bringing a folkloric yet futuristic energy to the ensemble’s sound.
The opening “Clouds” nods to a percussion quartet’s minimalist aesthetic. Two vibraphonists split the melody with leaping intervallic lines, as Wendel weaves his tenor saxophone into the mix, creating a blend of sound, in an approach perhaps never heard on record before. “Mimo,” the Czech word for “outside,” is an indirect tribute to his Czech-born wife. The song’s title can be taken literally or metaphorically. It begins with a metronomic beat and sound that starts a bit annoyingly at first. But the piece shifts through different tones and meters, mostly driven by the leader’s saxophone lines, which, in turn, lead to interesting rhythm changes and textures. The metronomic motif reappears at the end, developed cleverly, as the piece descends to a close.
Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Olha Maria” becomes almost unrecognizable, though Wendel claims he stays harmonically faithful to the original. Here, the use of electronics creates a very ambient feel as solos are more interspersed than on the previous two pieces. Wendel repurposes “Repeat After Me” from his band, Kneebody’s 2025 album Reach (GroundUp, 2025), merging the vibraphone-marimba rendition with the jazz-on-steroids original version. It proves how much can be done with one single repeated note, evoking a Morse code-like messaging.
The mostly through-composed “Birds Ascend” is loosely inspired by British pianist Kit Downes and Scottish contemporary fiddle player and composer Aidan O’Rourke. The aptly titled closer, “Lonely One,” captures an isolated feeling through the reverberating vibes and Wendel’s signature whistling. A child of divorce, Wendel spent long stretches of his youth alone, and the piece aims to reflect the somewhat contradictory duality of his “happy/sad place.”
With this album, Wendel does what he does best: produce a truly unique piece of music. BaRcoDe scans like nothing else out there. It also benefits from close listening. Be sure to grab your headphones for this one. If you listen tight before bed, it is bound to give you colorful dreams.
‘BaRcoDe’ will be released on Edition Records on March 13, 2026. It can be purchased on Bandcamp.
Photo credit: Gilad Hekselman
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