Marco Benevento (born July
22, 1977 in Livingston, New Jersey
) is a pianist, organist and composer from
Brooklyn
, New York
.
Benevento is known for his effected piano work with his trio as
well as his
Hammond Organ and
Wurlitzer Electric Piano work with
the
Benevento Russo Duo.
Benevento has also been a member of the New York's
jazz and experimental music scene since 1999.
Biography
He was
born in Livingston,
New Jersey in 1977 and grew up in Wyckoff, New
Jersey
. He began playing piano at age seven, and
discovered jazz and improvised music at age fifteen.
Benevento attended
Ramapo High
School
, and got his start with local bands and his high
school's jazz band. He graduated from Ramapo High in 1995 and
Berklee College
of Music
in 1999.
He was a
member of The Jazz Farmers from 1999–2001, and has been a regular
on the New York
City
contemporary, experimental jazz
scene for years. Benevento has studied under and played
alongside teachers like
Kenny Werner,
Brad Mehldau, and
Joanne Brackeen; and bandmates like
Matt Chamberlain,
Steven Bernstein,
Wayne Krantz,
Charlie
Hunter,
Stanton Moore,
Mike Gordon and
Trey
Anastasio.
Benevento is one half of the
Benevento Russo Duo, an instrumental
indie rock, experimental
Hammond Organ,
Wurlitzer Electric Piano and drum
duo that he formed with drummer
Joe
Russo in 2001. The band makes use of samplers, loops, circuit
bent toys, guitars as well as glockenspiels to augment their sound.
The Benevento Russo Duo have performed at events like
Lollapalooza,
Austin City Limits,
Fuji Rock Festival,
SXSW,
Bonnaroo,
Wakarusa,
High Sierra Music Festival and
have drawn reviews at publications ranging from
Rolling Stone to
Pitchfork Media.
Benevento released his first solo studio album as a pianist in
2008, entitled
Invisible
Baby followed by
Me Not
Me in 2009. Both albums include drummers
Matt Chamberlain and
Andrew Barr and bassist
Reed Mathis. Featured on both records is Marco's
use of an amplified acoustic piano, circuit bent toys, Mellotron
and Optigan.
Performances with the trio include the
JVC Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival, SXSW, the New
Orleans Jazz Festival, High Sierra Music Festival and
Carnegie
Hall
.
In early 2008, Benevento's
Live At Tonic won in The 7th
Annual
Independent Music
Awards for Best Live Performance Album.
Equipment
Benevento is best known for his stylistic playing and heavy use of
effects. His constantly evolving equipment rig with the
Benevento Russo Duo includes a
Casio sampling keyboard and myriad effects pedals, but
is anchored by his Hammond organ (with bass pedalboard) and
Wurlitzer electric piano. A
fan of
circuit bending, Marco uses a
pile of circuit bent toys to create wild and warped sounds. In the
spring of 2006 he added a circuit bent television that displays
sound waves on the vertical line. When playing with his trio Marco
amplifies the piano with guitar pickups and other effects. His
release,
Live at Tonic, a three-disc
Ropeadope album includes Marco playing the
piano,
toy piano,
Yamaha CP60,
speak and
spell,
glockenspiel, Hammond organ,
Rhythm Ace Drum Machine,
wurlitzer and
Rheem Organ.
Bands
In 2005 Marco joined
Garage A Trois
along with
Stanton Moore,
Skerik and
Mike
Dillon.
In 2006, Benevento was featured in
Bobby
Previte's
Coalition of the Willing
US and European tour.
In July 2006, Benevento toured with
Trey
Anastasio,
Mike Gordon and
Joe Russo.
Marco became the fifth member of the band
Surprise Me Mr. Davis. The
announcement came from lead singer Nathan Moore during a concert at
the Independent in San Francisco, CA on Thursday, July 9
2009.
T Shirts
Marco also has his own line of T-shirts. They can be found online
at
We're Using Time For Fun.
Discography
Marco Benevento
Benevento/Russo Duo
Garage A Trois
Videography
References
Sources
- David Fricke, "RollingStone.com Apr 28th, 2009
Retrieved July 18, 2009
- David Frike, "RollingStone.com" Feb 26th, 2008,
Retrieved April 8, 2008
- Chris Barton, "LA Times.com" Dec 28, 2008,
Retrieved August 9, 2009
- Get
LoFi.com Apr 9th, 2009, Retrieved May
2009
- Bret Gladstone, "Village Voice.com" Feb 5th,
2008, Retrieved April 11, 2008
- John Regen, KeyboardMagazine.com
March, 2008, Retrieved April 10, 2008
- HyenaRecords.com January 2008, Retrieved
April 2, 2008
External links
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