Composer: Charles Ives.

Composer: Charles Ives.

Theo Bleckmann: Theo Bleckmann; Adam Benjamin (piano); Kaveh Rastegar, Nate Wood, Shane Endsley, Ben Wendel.

Personnel: Ben Wendel (tenor saxophone); Shane Endsley (trumpet); Kaveh Rastegar (acoustic bass); Nate Wood (drums).

Charles Ives's songs were underappreciated when he was alive; some of his biggest admirers are people who discovered his music long after his death--and one of them is New York singer Theo Bleckmann, who pays tribute to the American composer on TWELVE SONGS BY CHARLES IVES. Combining avant-garde jazz with elements of cabaret and avant-garde classical, Bleckmann, accompanied by the ensemble Kneebody, puts his own spin on Ives's compositions, giving them 21st century makeovers. In fact, someone who heard this 58-minute CD without knowing anything about Ives's life might be surprised to find out that "Weil auf Mir" goes back to 1902 or that "At the River" was written in 1916. TWELVE SONGS BY CHARLES IVES is not only one of Bleckmann's most intriguing albums--it is also one of his most consistent.

Down Beat (p.74) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "On `The New River,' Kneebody nails the Ivesian collage mentality....Another water song, `At The River,' starts by presenting its melody in a hypnotic ambient setting..."