Mesmerizing maestro
Innovative keyboardist Marco Benevento makes his Vermont solo debut
Toolbox
By Tom Huntington Arts Correspondent - Published: November 7, 2008
arco Benevento is a fairly familiar face in the Burlington area as one-half of the freewheeling Benevento-Russo Duo – which last month served up its super-charged jazz-rock at Higher Ground. But the unassuming rising-star keyboardist has lately been making a name for himself as a singular musician and composer with his own trio, which makes its Vermont debut Monday at the intimate FlynnSpace in Burlington.
Handling drum duties at the show will be none other than Phish drummer Jon Fishman, sitting in for regular drummer Andrew Barr of jazzy trio the Slip. (Barr, who recently moved to Montreal, is currently touring in Europe with Montreal indie-rock trio Land of Talk.) Fishman, who is performing on the first half of the eight-date mini-tour of the Northeast (Burlington is stop number four), will be joined by standout bassist Reed Mathis of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey in what should be a stellar show that will also feature video projections throughout the set.
Benevento and Fishman played together last month at the Loki Music Festival in North Carolina, as part of the genre-blurring and personnel-changing group, Everyone Orchestra, which Benevento described as a "really fun" experience. Nonetheless, Benevento said he couldn't believe it when Fishman enthusiastically accepted his invitation to perform with his trio.
"I'm really excited to play with Fishman because I feel like he could do the part really differently and really tastefully," said Benevento in a phone interview on Monday, prior to performing with the likes of Joss Stone and Robert Randolph, among many others, at the "Get Out the Vote" Party benefit concert at the Highline Ballroom in New York City.
"I plan to stretch out some of my tunes a little bit, and just sort of get into the improvisation world with him because that's one of my most favorite things about playing music."
Benevento said the trio will be previewing material from his forthcoming solo CD, "Me Not Me," scheduled for release on Feb. 3. (The title comes from a skit on comedian David Cross's 2004 CD, "It's Not Funny.") The studio recording, which Benevento said he planned to mix and master this week, features some new original compositions along with a bunch of cover tunes by the likes of My Morning Jacket, Deerhoof, Beck and Leonard Cohen.
"I got really into the producing side on this record," said Benevento, who took the live trio tracks and then tweaked them at the "Bat Cave," his Brooklyn home studio featuring an assortment of vintage keyboards and "circuit-bent" toys – electronic gadgets that he has retooled to produce different effects, which have become a trademark of his signature sound.
Only 31, Benevento – who the All Music Guide calls "an outrageously talented musician" — has been heaped with considerable praise for his early 2008 gem of a recording, "Invisible Baby," his first solo studio effort and a follow-up to his excellent 2007 triple-CD, "Live at Tonic," which the Boston Globe called "one of last year's most exciting albums."
Easily one of the most compelling albums of 2008, instrumental or otherwise, "Invisible Baby" shines on the strength of Benevento's mesmerizing and deceptively simple compositions that marry sweeping rock flourishes with gorgeous pop melodies and stunning jazz-improv sensibilities.
"He knows his Monk and his Basie, but he prefers to play like a rock star, bashing power chords into the ivories and hooking up with others who straddle the rock-jazz line," said the Boston Globe. The Boston Phoenix described a recent trio show as "bombastic, leadfoot, pedal-to-the-metal instrumental rock," while Rolling Stone senior writer David Fricke said Benevento "often hammers his keyboards like (Led Zeppelin drummer) John Bonham and writes like a guitarist."
So, is Benevento's music progressive rock? Or perhaps jazz fusion?
"When someone asks me that question, I just say, 'instrumental music,'" said Benevento. "It's like rock music but there are elements of jazz improvisation in it. I could categorize it as 'contemporary jazz' or 'rock piano.' It's hard to describe, really."
"What I have is a passion for my instrument and a drive to get better at the piano," he added. Benevento, a native of New Jersey, credits this drive to "all the teachers that I've run into," including such piano luminaries as Kenny Werner and Brad Mehldau in addition to his Berklee School of Music instructor Joanne Brackeen.
Called "one of a dying breed of downtown jazz musicians who've cut their teeth on the waning underground-club circuit" by the Village Voice, Benevento has also played with a veritable who's who on the "jam" scene – including all four members of Phish – and last year became a member of yet another group, Garage a Trois. The eclectic quartet recently completed a recording of its own, which will likely be released next year along with a new Duo recording.
"For me, it's about meeting tons of different musicians," said Benevento. "I can't do enough."