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Anyone under the false impression that jazz music is inaccessible or only performed by stuffy players obviously isn’t familiar with Marco Benevento. This 35-year-old keyboard king is technically talented and creatively rich, but in no way personality-deprived. Just as his music is layered and varied, so is the man behind it.
This jazz-piano wizard, originally from New Jersey (see, good things do come from Jersey), will work his magic on Thursday, Nov. 29, 8 p.m., at the Westcott Theater, 524 Westcott St. Tickets are $15; visit thewestcotttheater.com for details.
Bubbly, friendly and possessing a good sense of humor, Benevento spoke to the Syracuse New Times during his current tour leg after two failed attempts at phone interviews. When he finally made it on the line, planes flew overhead periodically from his temporary home base of Virginia Beach, Va. As airline engines screamed in the background, Benevento emphasized, “They’re really loud!” It only added to the charm of the interview, where it was easy to picture him smiling through his blonde beard.
Benevento is promoting TigerFace, his latest release from his Royal Potato Family Records label, as well as a stark departure from his three previous studio efforts. “This album came together over a long time,” Benevento explains about the organic two-year process. “There was no pressure to get it done, no deadlines. So things happened really naturally. TigerFace has the beginnings of a more widely accessible sound that might even put me in a more pop category than a jazz-experimental one.”
The TigerFace tracks allowed Benevento full artistic room to experiment, from poppy (with hummable vocal hooks provided by Kalmia Traver of Rubblebucket) to layered and intricately jazzy. The musical guests don’t stop with Traver, either. Matt Chamberlain (Bill Frisell, Pearl Jam), John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea & Cake), Andrew Barr (The Barr Brothers), Dave Dreiwitz (Ween), Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green), Ali Helnwein (Traction Avenue Chamber Orchestra) and Stuart Bogie (Antibalas, Superhuman Happiness) all find places within the diverse record.
“Mike Gordon just called me up and came over one day while he was in the area,” Benevento says concerning “Escape Horse,” a TigerFace collaboration with the Phish bassist. “He brought his kids over to play with mine and we just hung out one afternoon, played music and a song came out.”
Benevento recently moved to Woodstock, a needed change after living in New York City for 10 years. The rich musical environment, which was the former home to The Band musician Levon Helm, has proven a fertile ground for the pianist-composer, who is no stranger to New York state. Just months earlier, he performed at moe.down 13, having the lucky opportunity to play just as the rain began to pour during his Aug. 12 set. For a weaker fest-going bunch, it might have deterred them from dancing like maniacs, but the moe.down crowd seemed to feed off the wet weather.
“Oh yeah, that was great,” he says. “It was so much fun! And I love that festival. I’m friends with the guys from moe.; they make the artists feel really welcome. It’s like a family there.”
Benevento also has nice things to say about Rubblebucket vocalist Kalmia Traver’s contributions to TigerFace. “{Traver has} endless creative musical input, but is super-tasteful at the same time,” he says. “Kal’s voice has laser-beam precision, too.”
The album started with tracks laid down at EastWest Studios in Los Angeles, where the Beach Boys’ 1966 classic Pet Sounds was recorded. It finished on the East Coast with various sessions at Trout Recording in Brooklyn, engineered by Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Antony & The Johnsons and Apples in Stereo), plus more work at Benevento’s Woodstock studio. Yet for all the unique qualities of TigerFace, fans won’t likely be left wishing for previous Benevento albums like Between the Needles & Nightfall (Megaforce/Royal Potato, 2010), Me Not Me (Royal Potato, 2009) or Invisible Baby (Hyena Records, 2008).
The jazz-loving Benevento was also thrilled to hear about the Syracuse version of “The Last Waltz,” which was performed at the Westcott Theater on Nov. 24, the same night that he took up roles as Garth Hudson and Dr. John in “The Complete Last Waltz” at San Francisco’s Warfield venue. In honor of the late, legendary Helm, Benevento performed alongside musicians from bands including Dr. Dog, Ween, Nada Surf, Furthur and more as they recreated The Band’s 1976 Thanksgiving farewell concert.
Whether or not Benevento brings some Band tunes with him to the Westcott Nation, he’s bound to deliver a raucous live show with new music that could take him in different directions, even with the album’s funny title. “Why does everyone ask me about that name?” he asks about the TigerFace title. “No one asked about my other album names! I actually took it from my friend’s old band. That’s it. I heard that name a long time ago and thought, ‘I could use that someday.’ And there it is.”Youtube
