Ben studied music at Queens College and the
University of Miami. After returning to New York in 1984, he spent
most of his time working with R&B and wedding bands and practicing
jazz in his room. His big break came in 1986 when Jack McDuff
called him (personally!) to join his band “The Heatin’
System” for some extended road trips to the Midwest and West
Coast.
It was during this period that Ben developed an unprecedented
tolerance for alchohol and had his first experience of being
yelled at on the bandstand. He parted amenably from the McDuff
aggregation (although Jack has departed this world still owing
him $75 for the last gig) for an opportunity to perform in Vienna,
home to many of his musical heroes, with a “fusion”
unit. It was thrilling to solo over extended 1 chord vamps and
eat wiener schnitzel, knowing that the ghosts of Mozart, Beethoven,
and Schubert could be sitting just an arm’s length away!.
He returned to the States a man of the world and, although
it was 6 years before he would return to Europe to perform,
began to play more and more “jazz gigs” around New
York. A regular gig at the renowned club “Augies”
proved important to his development, as well as providing free
wine and chicken soup. However, his unothodox approach and sullen
demeanor so alienated the perpetually besotted owner that after
a year he was barred from ever playing there again, with anybody.
It was around this time that the Hasidic drummer/vocalist Yitzhak
Bitton started calling him for duo gigs in a Crown Heights hotel
basement. Some highlights from the next couple of years include
a winter playing lifelike renditions of Louis Prima numbers,
Italian Rhumbas, and Disco medleys 4 nights a week with a lounge
band at the Glen Island Casino. Ben fondly remembers the high
point of each night being his feature on Donna Summer’s
“Bad Girl.”
In 1990 or ‘91 he recorded the critically ambiguous “Right
Brain Patrol,” a date led by the enigmatic yet diatonically
leaning bassist, Marc Johnson. Subsequent tours led to greater
visibility for the young Monder, yet the exposure to the constant
anti-semitic diatribes of the percussionist proved stressful
to his sensitive constitution. Anyway, our hero was soon fired.
Some other famous people he’s played with are Paul Motian,
Lee Konitz, Toots Theilemanns, and Dave Liebman. He has played
on over 90 CDs as a sideman and has 4 of his own.
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