Marco Benevento
Encyclopedia
Marco Benevento is a pianist, organist and composer from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York. Benevento is known for his effected piano work with his trio as well as his Hammond Organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...

 and Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...

 work with the Benevento Russo Duo. Benevento has also been a member of the New York's jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and experimental music scene since 1999.

Biography

He was born in Livingston, New Jersey
Livingston, New Jersey
Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 29,366.Livingston was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 5, 1813, from portions of Caldwell Township and Springfield...

 in 1977 and grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey
Wyckoff, New Jersey
Wyckoff is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 16,696. As of the 2000 Census, Wyckoff ranked 54th in 100 highest-income places in the United States...

. 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
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...

 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
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 scene for years. Benevento has studied under and played alongside teachers like Kenny Werner
Kenny Werner
Kenny Werner is an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Kenny Werner is a world-class pianist and composer. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world....

, Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with many renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Larry Grenadier, Peter Bernstein, Jeff Ballard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt...

, and Joanne Brackeen
Joanne Brackeen
Joanne Brackeen is an American jazz pianist and music educator.-Biography:She was born Joanne Grogan in Ventura, California. She attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, but devoted herself to jazz by imitating Frankie Carle albums...

; and bandmates like Matt Chamberlain
Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...

, Steven Bernstein, Wayne Krantz
Wayne Krantz
Wayne Krantz is an American jazz fusion guitarist. He has played with top artists such as Steely Dan, Michael Brecker, Billy Cobham, and others, but is most active as a solo performer.-Biography:...

, Charlie Hunter
Charlie Hunter
for the New Zealand racehorse trainer and driver see: Charlie HunterCharlie Hunter is an American guitarist, composer and bandleader....

, Stanton Moore
Stanton Moore
Stanton Moore is a drummer raised in Metairie, Louisiana. Most widely known as a founding member of Galactic, Moore has also pursued a solo recording career and recorded with bands as diverse as jazz-funk keyboardist Robert Walter and heavy metal act Corrosion of Conformity...

, Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...

 and Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...

.

Benevento is one half of the Benevento Russo Duo, an instrumental indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

, experimental Hammond Organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...

, Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...

 and drum duo that he formed with drummer Joe Russo
Joe Russo (musician)
Joe Russo is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. He plays with a number of other bands, including A Big Yes and a Small No, Fat Mama, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Danjaboots, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Electron , Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, the...

 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
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...

, Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...

, Fuji Rock Festival
Fuji Rock Festival
Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The 3 day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan...

, SXSW, Bonnaroo, Wakarusa
Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival
Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is a four-day music festival held in early June at Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, Arkansas. The festival has been held annually since 2004....

, High Sierra Music Festival
High Sierra Music Festival
High Sierra Music Festival is a multi-day music festival held in Quincy, California, a mountainous area about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada.The festival is held each year the weekend of July 4...

 and have drawn reviews at publications ranging from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

to Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

.

Benevento released his first solo studio album as a pianist in 2008, entitled Invisible Baby
Invisible Baby
Invisible Baby is the first solo studio album by New York keyboardist Marco Benevento.- Musicians :* Marco Benevento - piano, mellotron, circuit bent toys, keyboards* Reed Mathis - bass...

followed by Me Not Me
Me Not Me
Me Not Me is the second solo studio album by keyboardist Marco Benevento of Brooklyn, New York, released in 2009. It consists mostly of covers -- hence the title -- along with three original tracks.-Track listing:# "Golden"...

in 2009. Both albums include drummers Matt Chamberlain
Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...

 and Andrew Barr
Andrew Barr
Andrew Barr is an Australian politician and Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. He has been an Australian Labor Party member for the seat of Molonglo in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 5 April 2006, after being elected on a countback to replace...

 and bassist Reed Mathis
Reed Mathis
Reed Mathis is an American composer, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is highly regarded for his innovative use of effected bass as well as his stylistic versatility...

. 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
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...

, SXSW, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, High Sierra Music Festival
High Sierra Music Festival
High Sierra Music Festival is a multi-day music festival held in Quincy, California, a mountainous area about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada.The festival is held each year the weekend of July 4...

 and Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

.

In early 2008, Benevento's Live At Tonic won in The 7th Annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....

 for Best Live Performance Album. And in 2009 Benevento's "Invisible Baby" was nominated for Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....

 Jazz Album of the year.
In January 2011, Benevento won The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards for the Eclectic Album category.

Marco Benevento Trio is exclusively represented by Tree Lawn Artists, Inc. http://www.treelawn.org

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
Casio
is a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Casio is best known for its electronic products, such as calculators, audio equipment, PDAs, cameras, musical instruments, and watches...

 sampling keyboard and myriad effects pedals, but is anchored by his Hammond organ (with bass pedalboard) and Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...

. A fan of circuit bending
Circuit bending
Circuit bending is the creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators....

, 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
Ropeadope Records
Ropeadope Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, hip hop, electronic and downtempo music. The label was founded by Andy Hurwitz in New York City and later moved to Philadelphia, where it is now located....

 album includes Marco playing the piano, toy piano
Toy piano
The toy piano, also known as the kinderklavier , is a small piano-like musical instrument. The present form of the toy piano was invented in Philadelphia by a 17-year-old German immigrant named Albert Schoenhut. He worked as a repairman at Wanamaker's department store, repairing broken glass...

, Yamaha CP60, speak and spell
Speak & Spell (toy)
The Speak & Spell line is a series of electronic handheld educational toys created by Texas Instruments that consist of a speech synthesizer, a keyboard, and a receptor slot to receive one of a collection of ROM game library modules...

, glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...

, Hammond organ, Rhythm Ace Drum Machine, wurlitzer
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....

 and Rheem Organ.

Bands

In 2005 Marco joined Garage A Trois
Garage A Trois
Garage A Trois is a quartet including drummer Stanton Moore, saxophonist Skerik, vibraphone and percussionist Mike Dillon and keyboardist Marco Benevento. They play a variety of music including rock, funk and jazz.- History :...

 along with Stanton Moore
Stanton Moore
Stanton Moore is a drummer raised in Metairie, Louisiana. Most widely known as a founding member of Galactic, Moore has also pursued a solo recording career and recorded with bands as diverse as jazz-funk keyboardist Robert Walter and heavy metal act Corrosion of Conformity...

, Skerik
Skerik
Skerik is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, Skerik is a pioneer in a playing style that has been dubbed saxophonics. He is a founding member of Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois and Skerik's Syncopated...

 and Mike Dillon
Mike Dillon (musician)
Mike Dillon is a percussionist, vibraphonist, bandleader, vocalist and songwriter born in San Antonio, Texas. He is a member of Critters Buggin, Les Claypool's Fancy Band and Garage A Trois...

.

In 2006, Benevento was featured in Bobby Previte
Bobby Previte
Robert "Bobby" Previte is a drummer, composer and bandleader. Previte earned a B.A. in Economics at the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979, and became active in the city's thriving jazz and experimental music scenes...

's Coalition of the Willing
The Coalition of the Willing (band)
The Coalition of the Willing is an instrumental jazz and rock "all-star" ensemble led by Bobby Previte. Live performances are improvisational emphasizing groove, experimental and cross-genres. The self-titled album was released 2006 and the tour began in early 2006...

 US and European tour.

In July 2006, Benevento toured with Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...

, Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...

 and Joe Russo
Joe Russo (musician)
Joe Russo is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. He plays with a number of other bands, including A Big Yes and a Small No, Fat Mama, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Danjaboots, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Electron , Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, the...

.

Marco is also a member of the band Bustle In Your Hedgerow, a band that reinterprets the music of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 instrumentally. Other members of this band include Scott Metzger
Scott Metzger
Scott Metzger is an American guitarist.-Biography:Scott Metzger is a Brooklyn, New York based guitarist...

, Dave Dreiwitz
Dave Dreiwitz
-Biography:Dave Dreiwitz was born on January 2, 1966 in New York City, New York to traditional jazz musician parents, Richard and Barbara Dreiwitz. In 1985 at the age of nineteen, Dave joined the Hoboken, NJ based psych rock band Tiny Lights, his first professional band out of high school...

, and Joe Russo
Joe Russo
Joe Russo may refer to:*Joe Russo , American film and television director*Joe Russo , American jazz/rock drummer*Joe Russo , American racecar driver active in the 1930s...

. The band only gets together a few times a year to perform as each member is busy with his own projects elsewhere.

Marco became the fifth member of the band Surprise Me Mr. Davis
Surprise Me Mr. Davis
Surprise Me Mr. Davis is an electro-folk band consisting of singer-songwriter Nathan Moore and the members of avant-rock band The Slip. They formed in 2003 in Boston while Moore was visiting The Slip at their apartment and the Blizzard of 2003 hit...

. 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.

Marco Benevento

  • Live at Tonic
    Live at Tonic (Marco Benevento)
    Live At Tonic is an album by keyboardist Marco Benevento.Benevento invited his old friend Andy Hurwitz along to document the proceedings. Alternating between group and solo performance, Benevento played two sets a night and was joined by a different cast of musical co-conspirators for each show...

    (2007) Ropeadope
  • Invisible Baby
    Invisible Baby
    Invisible Baby is the first solo studio album by New York keyboardist Marco Benevento.- Musicians :* Marco Benevento - piano, mellotron, circuit bent toys, keyboards* Reed Mathis - bass...

    (2008) Hyena Records
  • Me Not Me
    Me Not Me
    Me Not Me is the second solo studio album by keyboardist Marco Benevento of Brooklyn, New York, released in 2009. It consists mostly of covers -- hence the title -- along with three original tracks.-Track listing:# "Golden"...

    (2009) The Royal Potato Family
  • Between the Needles and Nightfall (2010) The Royal Potato Family

Benevento/Russo Duo

  • Marco Benevento and Joe Russo (2002)
  • Darts (2003)
  • Best Reason to Buy the Sun
    Best Reason to Buy the Sun
    Best Reason to Buy the Sun is a 2005 album from the Benevento-Russo Duo. Made up of only Joe Russo and Marco Benevento, playing only Keyboards and Drums, the Duo's debut studio recording is remenisent of Medeski, Martin & Wood or late Phish, to such a degree that Mike Gordon, previously of Phish,...

    (2005) Ropeadope
  • Live From Bonnaroo 2005
    Live From Bonnaroo 2005
    Live From Bonnaroo 2005 is a double disc live album from Mike Gordon and the Benevento-Russo Duo recorded live at the fourth annual Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2005...

    (featuring Mike Gordon
    Mike Gordon
    Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...

    ) (July 18, 2006, recorded live in 2005)
  • Play Pause Stop
    Play Pause Stop
    Play Pause Stop is a 2006 album from the Benevento/Russo Duo. Made up of only Marco Benevento and Joe Russo, the album contains the two playing only keyboards and drums, respectively...

    (2006) Reincarnate/Butter Problems

Garage A Trois

  • Power Patriot
    Power Patriot
    Power Patriot is the third studio album by Garage A Trois. It is the first CD with the musician line-up that includes Stanton Moore, Skerik, Mike Dillon and Marco Benevento...

    (2009) The Royal Potato Family
  • Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil
    Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil
    Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil is the forth studio album by Garage A Trois. It is the second CD with the musician line-up that includes Stanton Moore, Skerik, Mike Dillon and Marco Benevento...

    (2011) The Royal Potato Family

Sources


External links

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