Uptempo, uplifting hot dance piano rock from high-octane keyboard
virtuoso THIS EVENT IS 21+
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MARCO BENEVENTO [https://marcobenevento.com/]
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[https://www.facebook.com/marco.benevento/] | Spotify
[https://open.spotify.com/artist/1DB8cszlTpqBsDdVWB349w]
It’s impossible not to hear freedom and excitement coursing through
the veins of Marco Benevento’s new studio album, ‘Let It Slide.’
Produced by Leon Michels (The Arcs, Lee Fields), the record introduces
a gritty, soulful edge to Benevento’s brand of high-octane keyboard
wizardry—an uptempo, uplifting sound he playfully describes as
“hot dance piano rock.” For all Benevento’s virtuosity on the
keys though, the songs here are driven primarily by intoxicating
grooves, with spare drums and minimalist bass lines underpinning
infectious, intentionally lo-fi vocal hooks. The resulting vibe is a
timeless one, filtering elements of vintage R&B and soul through
modern indie rock and pop sensibilities and peppering it with the kind
of adventurous improvisation that Benevento’s come to be celebrated
for worldwide.
Acceptance is a recurring theme on the record, and Benevento’s songs
often find themselves recognizing that contentment can come only once
you’ve freed yourself from the chains of desire and regret. Upon
close listen, one can find Benevento’s own personal philosophies
subconsciously bubbling up throughout the songs. “You’ll feel
better, I’ll just say / When you finally let it go,” he sings on
the funky “Say It’s All The Same,” which features vocal
contributions from bandmate Karina Rykman. The hazy “Solid Gold”
celebrates the simple joy of being in the moment with someone you
love, while the Lennon-esque “Lorraine” (co-written with Simone
Felice) grapples with loss and change, and the anthemic “Send It On
A Rocket” contemplates loneliness and connection.
Dubbed “one of the most talented keys players of our time” by CBS
Radio, Benevento’s released six critically acclaimed solo albums
over the last decade, performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall and
Newport Jazz to Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo, and worked in the studio
and on the road with the likes of Richard Swift (The Shins, The Arcs),
Jon Brion (Spoon, Aimee Mann), A.C. Newman (The New Pornographers),
and Simone Felice (The Felice Brothers, The Lumineers) among others.
“It’s safe to say that no one sees the keyboard quite like Marco
Benevento’s genre-blind mashup of indie rock, jazz and skewed
improvisation,” the LA Times raved, while NPR said he combines
“the thrust of rock, the questing of jazz and the experimental
ecstasy of jam,” and Rolling Stone praised “the textures and
colors available in his keyboards and arsenal of manipulated pedals
and effects,” along with his “deceptively rich, catchy melodies
and straight-ahead grooves.”
THE MATTSON 2 [http://www.mattson2.com/]
Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/themattson2/?hl=en] | Twitter
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[https://soundcloud.com/the-mattson-2]
The Mattson 2’s recent output has found them (jazz twins Jared and
Jonathan Mattson) evoking the lush and carefree soundscapes of
Japanese city pop. Their 2018 release Vaults of Eternity: Japan was
full of loving reinterpretations of songs by artists like Haruomi
Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and while their latest LP Paradise
doesn’t indulge in sonic excess, it does capture that breezy,
sun-filled vibe. It charted Billboard at #1 Contemp. Jazz, #2 Jazz,
#20 Alternative and landed features in the Washington Post and
Pitchfork. Amongst collabs w/ Ray Barbee, Tommy Guerrero, Farmer
Dave (of Kurt Vile), and Money Mark (of
Beastie Boys), they released Star Stuff in 2017 with
Chaz Bear (FKA Chaz Bundick, AKA Toro Y Moi) — also #1 on
Billboard contemp. jazz charts — and reinterpreted Coltrane’s
legendary A Love Supreme which Ashely Kahn (author of A Love Supreme:
The Creation of John Coltrane’s Classic Album, 2002) says “there
is a depth of sincerity and reverence in what the Mattson’s are
doing that is unquestionable.”
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14/12/2019 Last update