John Also Bennett’s new record explores the magic inherent within the everyday
I just heard a preview of this new album that is set to release later this month by Athens-based American composer, flautist, and multi-instrumentalist John Also Bennett and it is lovely! The album is called Στον Ελαιώνα / Ston Elaióna and it is delicate and introspective with a keen ear for detail. Some might describe it as experimental, but I think it’s more of an atmospheric jazz album created with a unhurried slow time signature and undertones of electronic ambience.
What is also beautiful about this release is that if you are into vinyl, Bennett has created a 300 copy limited edition version of the record in Artic Pearl which includes an additional track excllusive to the physical release. Bonus!
As a child, Bennett was classically trained on flute and piano before later moving onto the saxophone and eventually the electric guitar. In the mid 2000s, Bennett cut his teeth in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio by performing and releasing various strains of experimental music while running the Skylab Gallery art-space — a legendary stop on the midwest DIY underground circuit. Bennett relocated to New York City in 2010 and then spent the next 10 years or so in a semi nomadic state, drifting between Brooklyn, Brussels and finally Greece, where he’s been based since 2023.
Στον Ελαιώνα / Ston Elaióna, is his first album for Shelter Press since his 2019 solo debut Erg Herbe. The album’s title translates from Greek to “In the Olive Grove.” The album’s title track opens the album’s multilayered world — swells of intertwining of bass flute, oscillators, and DX7ii. It channels feelings of playful contentment felt by Bennett when he was “in the olive grove” or in his apartment, reflecting quiet moments spent among the ancient hills of the noisy city of Athens.
The last track on the album, “Easter Daydream,” sees Bennett’s flute tones joined by urban ambience and subtle punctuations of melody and rhythm, captured from a day long bell procession at the small church across the street from his apartment during Orthodox Holy Week. The composition is seeded with a deep sense of immediacy and place that draw consciousness well beyond the limits of sound.
Stream the first and last singles of Στον Ελαιώνα / Ston Elaióna below, and if you like the vibe, head over to John Also Bennett’s Bandcamp page to get your hands on one of those beautiful Arctic Pearl vinyls.
John Also Bennett – Easter Daydream
John Also Bennett – Ston Elaióna
