A U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Ireland (2022-23), Ghana (2017-18), and the Republic of Moldova (2005), Ben is a Professor of Music at California State University, Fresno. His Origin Records album with U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine, “The Poetry of Jazz,” was voted #3 “Best Album of 2018” in DownBeat Magazine’s 83rd Annual Readers Poll, featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and hailed in literary and music journals as of “historic importance” (UK Vibe). His latest album, “Caught in the Rhythm,” features jazz icons Ambrose Akinmusire, Greg Osby, Kenny Werner, Ben Monder, Ari Hoenig, Corcoran Holt, etc. alongside poets Kimiko Hahn, Faylita Hicks, Edward Hirsch, T.R. Hummer, Tyehimba Jess, and Patrick Sylvain.
