Born in Ohio and currently based in Athens, Greece, John Also Bennett, or JAB for short, is a composer, flautist, and synthesist whose new album Στον Ελαιώνα / Ston Elaióna comes out July 25 on vinyl (black or arctic pearl), compact disc, and digital through Shelter Press. Bennett’s work visits the crossroads of minimalism and the avant-garde and is noted for conjuring up rich electroacoustic atmospheres. For his latest, Bennett utilizes a bass flute, Yamaha DX7-ii and SY77 synths, digital oscillators, and a Eurorack. The results offer a warm tranquility across nine tracks and a bonus tenth on the physical formats.
John Also Bennett emerged as a musician in the 2000s as part of the Columbus, OH scene in the outfit Eagle Nebula. He then moved on to the ambient duo Seabat with Forest Christenson and shifted to experimental electronics in the outfit Forma. Bennett has also collaborated with noted minimalist composer and multi-wind-instrumentalist Jon Gibson and with composer and musician Christina Vantzou on a series of releases as CV & JAB.
In 2019 Bennett made his solo debut with Erg Herbe, which was released by Shelter Press, the French label that is issuing Ston Elaióna. Much of Bennett’s output in between his debut and his latest has been issued on his own label, Editions Basilic, although his 2022 album Out there in the middle of nowhere was released by Poole Music.
Ston Elaióna is an impressively focused recording. Bennett’s skill on the flute is immediately evident in the opening title piece, as is his ability to avoid the standard tropes of modular synths. If calm, Ston Elaióna is an expressive affair, as Bennett composed and played all the music, as well as recording and mixing the album.
“Hailstorm” incorporates an obvious field recording of the titular weather event to deliver the record some beneficial sonic range, although Bennett’s prowess on the flute extends to this piece and into the next, “A Handful of Olives,” which offers one of the prettiest melodies on the entire album. The sustained low tones incorporate drone textures into the track’s scheme and underscore the depth of Bennett’s compositions.
In “Sacred House,” Bennett inches toward the Hearts of Space realm, while the brief “Seikilos Epitaph,” which is “derived from the oldest known surviving complete musical composition,” brings a subtle touch of classical to the proceedings. After that, “First Lament” stretches out to nine minutes as the oscillators come to the fore.
Much of Ston Elaióna’s focus comes from Bennett’s immediate surroundings in Athens, where he settled in 2024. The record was mostly cut outdoors in the early morning hours, and the late tracks “Oracle” and “Easter Daydream” reinforce this fact. Naturally, the music coheres into a fine morning listen, particularly while walking in the sunshine, but Bennett’s achievement loses nothing in the late-night hours. It’s a flexible experience worth having.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
