Excavation (Ben Monder album)
Excavation is a studio jazz album by guitarist Ben Monder and his trio. It was recorded on June 30 and July 19–20, 1999 at The Clubhouse in Germantown, New York, and released on May 16, 2000 by Arabesque Records (AJ-0148). The album runs 73 minutes and 12 seconds. It was produced by Ben Monder and Leonardo Bella and later reissued on Sunnyside Records in 2006. Most of the tracks were written by Ben Monder, with some exceptions noted.
The album features the dreamlike vocals of Theo Bleckmann, which give parts of the music a haunting, medieval feel while the writing remains modern and exploratory. Critics praised its originality and sonic breadth: AllMusic highlighted its abundance of ideas and inventive harmony; All About Jazz admired the layered harmonic invention and called it a strong, innovative work; JazzTimes commented on Monder’s prodigious technique and the album’s engaging musical exploration, calling Excavation well worth digging.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:35 (CET).