“He really took the rhythmic language I use and included it in the arrangements while at the same time bringing in his creative unique voice.” “When I first heard what he was working on the first thing that hit me was the quality and attention to detail he gave in each of the arrangements,” Hoenig says. “Many of the conversations were like ‘Ari, I think I’m hearing this.’ He would either confirm or explain and notate what I was hearing.” This collaborative process evidently works, as Hoenig himself was thrilled with the authenticity that Markley created. “Talking with Ari regularly helped me use elements from his musical language in my arrangements,” Markley says. While this alone would have set the arrangements up for success, Markley sought to make this music as authentic to Hoenig’s voice as possible, and so the two began a regular correspondence. To do this, Markley began transcribing Hoenig’s solos and played with the original recordings for months, until the vocabulary was internalized. In order to pull this off, however, Markley needed to become intimately familiar with Hoenig’s vocabulary, both as a composer and performer. Markley immediately recognized the unique compositional voice that Hoenig possesses, and sought to keep Hoenig’s voice as the defining authorial style throughout the arrangements. The arrangement and collaboration processes on Ari’s Funhouse are closely intertwined. A few months after their shared performance at that festival, Hoenig received a call from Markley asking if he could arrange some of his music, to which Hoenig happily agreed. As Markley began learning Hoenig’s music as preparation for this performance, he began to notice a depth of melodicism and harmonic genius that accompanied the evident rhythmic brilliance that is rightly associated with Hoenig’s music.
In 2019, Markley and Hoenig found themselves slated to perform together at the Tarleton Jazz Festival in Tarleton, TX. This project’s inception began prior to the start of the arranging process. Fresh off the heels of Clockwise: The Music of Cedar Walton, Markley tackles his most ambitious project yet: Ari’s Funhouse, a big band album featuring the music of drummer Ari Hoenig, with Hoenig himself in the drum chair. Ben Markley is a pianist, arranger, and leader of the Ben Markley Big Band, a daring ensemble known for their creative takes on beloved modern and contemporary jazz classics.
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