Vocalist Theo Bleckmann only occasionally sings in an identifiable language, a trait that reinforces the impression that he is of another world, a messenger graced with an ethereal sense of beauty and a childlike fascination for exploring the unknown. His style is evocative and beckoning rather than infectious, and sympathetic listeners will find themselves willingly treading fresh terrain, sometimes soft like a swaddling cloth, sometimes strange, dark and subterranean.
Guitarist Ben Monder is the perfect foil for Bleckmann's sensory journeying. Employing unique chord voicings and a volume pedal, Monder delicately breathes in and out of the music, but when the feeling hits him he can also conjure a pulverizing heavy-metal tone. He doesn't so much play his instrument as paint with it -- sometimes using large blocks of color a la Rothko, sometimes with pointillist precision, and at still others he constructs looping abstractions, an aural Jackson Pollack. Monder has released three critically acclaimed jazz CDs as a leader and has also worked with the bassist Mark Johnson and legendary jazz drummer Paul Motian.
Bleckmann's 2000 CD, "Origami," features Monder as part of a larger band that includes vibraphone, electric bass and drums. Like the art form itself, "Origami" at times takes on a delicate architecture imbued with the life and spirit of the world -- in this case, a world imagined through sound. The CD includes a few unique interpretations of jazz standards, but most of the music on "Origami" is original.