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David Benoit Biography
Since launching his recording career in 1977, David Benoit’s expansive career as a contemporary jazz pianist has included over 25 solo recordings. His ‘80s releases This Side Up, Freedom at Midnight and the GRAMMY nominated Every Step of the Way are considered influential genre classics. Among his other Grammy nominations are those for Best Instrumental Composition (for “Dad’s Room,” from 1999’s Professional Dreamer) and Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance (for the GRP All-Star Big Band). His prolific output since 2000 includes several prominent Charlie Brown related projects (including Here's To You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years and the star-studded 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas) that reflect his lifelong passion for the music of original Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi and solidify Benoit’s role as his musical heir. Benoit has also released the Billboard Contemporary Jazz charting albums Fuzzy Logic, Right Here, Right Now, Full Circle and Heroes, which paid homage to the pianist’s top jazz and pop influences.
Benoit’s ever expanding slate of orchestral music endeavors include his ongoing role as conductor of the Asia America Symphony Orchestra and leading such eminent orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the symphonies of London, Nuremberg, San Francisco, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Jose. Concurrent with his burgeoning career as a conductor, he recorded 1996’s American Landscape with The London Symphony Orchestra and 2005’s Orchestral Stories with members of the Asia America Symphony Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Orchestral Stories featured his first piano concerto “The Centaur and the Sphinx” and his acclaimed symphonic piece “Kobe,” both of which he has performed in live settings across the country. In 2009, Benoit performed and conducted Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” with the Asia America Symphony Orchestra in a show that included Broadway great Lea Salonga; he later conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the same orchestra in his critically acclaimed debut at Los Angeles’ Disney Hall.
Benoit’s notable film scores include The Stars Fell on Henrietta, produced by Clint Eastwood and starring Robert Duvall; and The Christmas Tree, produced by Sally Field, voted Best Score of 1996 by Film Score Magazine. Benoit has also been a longtime guest educator with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, winning the organization’s “excellence in music education” award in 2001.
Through 2010, Benoit will head on the road to perform his latest inspiration from the April 2010 release, Earthglow. And on October 29, 2010, the Pianist will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at The American Smooth Jazz Awards in Michigan City, Indiana.
PIANIST DAVID BENOIT shares foundations for a global concept
on EARTHGLOW
Guest artists include Rick Braun, Jeff Kashiwa, Pat Kelley, and Tim Weisberg
In October 2008, David Benoit headed to the mountains near Saratoga to become an artist in residence at Villa Montalvo. Finding peaceful solitude and discovering fresh inspiration, the five time GRAMMY® nominated veteran composer and pianist wrote “Botswana Bossa Nova” and “Will’s Chill,” two unique pieces unlike any he had done before. These became the foundation for the overall global music concept behind Benoit’s stirring and provocative new CD Earthglow, his first set of original material in four years to release on April 13, 2010 on Heads Up International a division of Concord Music Group.
On Earthglow, Benoit takes the bold step of writing good old fashioned liner notes to explain the way the eclectic 11-track collection developed. After mentioning that Will.i.am from pop group Black Eyed Peas was an influence on “Will’s Chill,” the multi-talented performer says, “I was interested in experimenting with some of the new ‘jazz-lounge-Euro-chill’ music I was hearing at upscale boutique hotels and chic Japanese sake bars.”
Focusing on the high energy hybrid of old school soul-jazz and infectious world beat textures and rhythms of “Botswana Bossa Nova,” Benoit adds, “I loved the world mix of exotic ethnic percussion, African voices along with Brazilian beats.” The tune also owes a debt to the “Soul Bossa Nova” sound of the Austin Powers theme. The old school funk/jazz jam “New Creation” was inspired by The Hit Crew’s “(You’re) Unbelievable” and the easily rhythmic “Straightaway” mixes soulful jazz touches by Pat Kelley’s languid guitar and Jeff Kashiwa’s sax with an unexpected, very cool bossa interlude. Living up to its name, “Unbelievable” features a combination of the trademark Benoit piano hook amidst a hypnotic jungle percussive groove (featuring African tablas) and Rick Braun’s muted trumpet charm.
“New Creation,” a vibrant, percussive retro-jam is very atypical Benoit, with the pianist getting into a Chick Corea/Herbie Hancock vibe on the classic Fender Rhodes. Fans of Benoit’s numerous Charlie Brown/Vince Guaraldi related projects, including his recent, 2008’s Jazz For Peanuts, will love the whimsical ‘60s flavors of “Sneaky As A Cat,” which features remarkable work by Benoit’s lifelong friend, flute legend Tim Weisberg.
Benoit was tapped by other muses during an engagement in Tokyo where he composed “Brownie’s Gone” (an elegant reflection on a beloved cat who ran away) and the coolly percussive title track “Earthglow” with nothing but a Judy Green music pencil and ledger buff manuscript paper. When he returned to Palos Verdes, Benoit wrote the gently rolling, gospel flavored “Easy Day” and the darker toned trio ballad “Downtime,” whose easy swinging waltz rhythm skips a beat every so often.
The closing track “Freedom At Midnight (The Schroeder Variations)” is a unique mix of Benoit’s classic 1987 radio hit and a stirring take on Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” as if Schroeder from Peanuts was playing it.
Benoit credits Clark Germain, his longtime engineer and co-producer on Earthglow, with reining in his off the beaten path impulses and blending them with the identifiable sound that mark his repertoire of over 30 recordings since the late ‘70s. “I really loved the vibe of ‘Will’s Chill,’” he says, “and when I started recording, I wanted the whole album to have that chill sound, with long loops and lots of samples, with a little piano in the mix. For obvious and very good reasons, Clark brought me back to myself and took these new ideas I had and put them in perspective as a recognizable David Benoit record.”
