Improv Workshop with Jack Wright and Ben Bennett

CHS hosted an Improvisation workshop by touring musicians Jack Wright (saxophone) and Ben Bennett (percussion). Wright and Bennett play some of the most experimental, free-form music out there, pushing beyond free jazz into what Wright, in his scholarly book on the practice and history of improvisation, calls “Free Playing”, using instruments and voice against the ways we are taught to play them “correctly”.

The workshop was a lot of fun and explored new relationships with sound, play, and rhythm. Students and faculty brought instruments to experiment with, including their own voice!

Jack and Ben have had a 15-year-or-so musical friendship, which persisted through the pandemic with a lot of playing sessions, duo and trio with Zach Darrup, sometimes recorded, sometimes not. To say anything at all about the music always feels reductive, but we can say that playing music like this pretty consistently renews and adds to our enthusiasm for living.

The two met through Ben’s dad, John M. Bennett, well known in the underground poetry scene and a partner of Jack’s since the 80s. The three formed the group Rotty What, documented on two recordings, “Naming the Dust,” and “Ohio Grimes and Misted MeaSnies.”. Together with Evan Lipson, bassist, Ben and Jack played as Wrest, which toured the US six times over the past ten years and produced two CDs, “Wrest” and Ingress. and a duo Tangle on Public Eyesore Records. In 2016 Ben moved from Columbus Ohio to Philadelphia, where they collaborate regularly as a duo and trio with Zach Darrup (Never), and with various musicians who come through.

Enjoy this video of Jack and Ben playing locally at Art Rat Studios. Jonathan Falls has also performed in another ensemble on the set with Jack & Ben at Art Rat Studios.

Jack and Olchar also performed an east coast tour together in 2019 with Olchar on vocals and Jack on his sax).