Well, last night was a fucking musical feast! Marco Benevento came to town with two friends in tow and made an entire evening of noise, gloriously wonderful melodic noise. With Reed Mathis on bass and the irrepressible Simon Lott on drums, the Logan Square Auditorium reverberated with energy to an intimate but enthusiastic crowd. I was transfixed, absolutely transfixed on the whole experience of it. Hearing it recorded is just a sliver of what it is like to physically be in the room with all that noise and that moment of creation. Half the time I nodded my head to the beat, half the time I had my head cocked to the side, eyes squinched, wondering what was going through Marco’s mind right then to produce what I was hearing. Of course it helps that he is engaging and just a bit self-effacing and incredibly emotive when he plays. It is play for this man. His piano is all tricked out with a bunch of reverb/distortion pedals and knobs of all sorts, and he’s constantly playing off his drummer or bassist. It was impossible to not be drawn into it as they exchanged those knowing looks, exaggerated smiles and nods and just straight up “yeah I get it, man!” shakes of the head. This was music to move to!
Here’s a video of what folks in Brooklyn got on March 7th with some other supporting players, it’s much like what I heard last night. Just look at what he does, at that energy!
No, I can’t tell you a single title of what they played. It was jazz, it was improv/experimental, it went in all sorts of directions throughout and sometimes seemed to fall right off the cliff to be scooped up halfway down by the strong beat of a bass guitar or a fresh breath of a recognizable piano strain. This is not just a guy and a piano, it’s loud, it’s raucous, it’s jazzy and it grooves… women danced, “Marv” demanded it!
Sing It Again mp3 Marco Benevento Me Not Me
[edit: go and listen to NPR's song of the day today, by happy coincidence it's Marco Benevento's cover of My Morning Jacket's "Golden"]
This track isn’t very much like what I heard last night… well, I should preface that by saying it was a long set… and I heard so many tracks. They opened with a nice loud number, the third or fourth one in simply took me up to the ceiling and back again as it built and fell with a shimmer of cymbals and electronic noise. After that it was a series of songs, including one by George Harrison, a bit of chatter in between but not much. Toward the end, some requests taken from the meager audience and a pause for breath and some Maker’s Mark (this man had been literally hammering away for over an hour and a half!), and a few more, and then a beautiful closing number. I shook his hand afterward, thanking him for coming to our city; it was a warm, soft, tired hand that night.
official site……… buy the album, Me Not Me here! and hear a lot more music there too.
[edit: I totally forgot to mention the amazing opening band that played last night! Liquid Beat Allstars are not to be missed!!! Last night they had Allie Kral on violin, with them, from Cornmeal, who was great! .... see down below for gig dates/times here in Chicago]
Go see this amazing artist on tour!:
04.10.09 Fri
Vaudeville Mews
Des Moines, IA
with Reed Mathis and Simon Lott
04.11.09
Dakota
Minneapolis, MN
with Reed Mathis and Simon Lott
04.12.09
CSPS
Cedar Rapids, IA
with Reed Mathis and Simon Lott
04.17.09
Ithaca, NY
Castaways
with Marc Friedman and others
Nathan Moore opens
04.23.09
New Orleans, LA
Tipitina’s
with Adam Deitch, Papa Mali and many others
4.24.09
New Orleans, LA
Riverboat
with Stanton Moore, Mike D and Skerik
4.25.09
New Orleans, LA
The Maple Leaf
with Johnny Vidacovich (late night)
4.29.09
New Orleans, LA
The Howlin Wolf
- solo early set -
-late set – with Stanton Moore, Mike D and Skerik
4.30.09
New Orleans, LA
The Maple Leaf
with Johnny Vidacovich and George Porter
11pm set
05.01.09
New Orleans, LA
One Eyed Jacks
with Stanton Moore, Mike D and Skerik
LATE NIGHT AT THE COLTON THEATRE -
Benevento Russo Duo – show starts 2am.
05.02.09
New Orleans, LA
Tipitina’s
with BUSTLE IN YOUR HEDGEROW
- late show -
05.03.09
New Orleans, LA
The Blue Nile
ME NOT ME CD Release Show
with Reed Mathis and Adam Deitch
05.06.09
Le Divan Orange
Montreal, Canada
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.07.09
The Wescott Theatre
Syracuse, NY
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.08.09
The Iron Horse
Northampton, MA
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.09.09
Portland, ME
Empire Dine and Dance
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.12.09
Hartford, CT
Real Art Ways
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.13.09
Philadelphia, PA
Johnny Brenda’s
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.14.09
Merkin Concert Hall
New York, NY
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.15.09
Boston, MA
The Pardise
opening for TLG
05.29.09
Woodstock, NY
MOUNTAIN JAM
June 11th
NYC
The Stone
8pm and 10pm Solo
07.3.09
Quincy, CA
HIGH SIERRA MUSIC FESTIVAL
07.18.09
Sante Fe, NM
New Mexico Jazz Festival
——————————————-
Chicago! Go hear Liquid Beat Allstars
Apr 11 2009 9:00P
US Beer Co w/ Great Divide Chicago, Illinois
Apr 15 2009 10:00P
Tonic Room Chicago, Illinois
Apr 22 2009 10:00P
Tonic Room Chicago, Illinois
Apr 29 2009 10:00P
Tonic Room Chicago, Illinois
May 2 2009 8:00P
Illinois Brewing Co. (Bloomington, IL) w/ Raoul Duke Bloomington, IL
May 28 2009 9:00P
The Kinetic Playground w/ Steez & The Station Chicago, Illinois
special thanks to Adam Lindstaedt
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