Tommy Benedetti sits in his Boston home and is itching to get out on tour. He considers John Brown’s Body to be his family and wants the fans to hear its proud new addition: Kings and Queens.
For 15 years, Benedetti has been the American reggae band’s only drummer and feels the band’s ninth studio album is its best recording.
“The band is in a really good place right now and it’s no small feat for a band that’s been around for 15 years to be in the best place that we’ve been in in our career,” said Benedetti, a graduate of Berklee College of Music. “The record, the shows, feel really good. We all look forward to getting together and playing. I feel the band is getting better after every tour and that’s incredibly satisfying.”
Benedetti spoke to jambands.com by phone to talk about the state of JBB, the new record and its summer tour.
JBB’s lineup also includes vocalist Elliot Martin, bassist Nate Edgar, keyboardist Jon Petronzio, guitarist Jay Spaker and the horn section of Drew Sayers (tenor sax), Sam Dechenne (trumpet) and Alex Asher (trombone).
A number of critics have said that this is your best record, do you agree?
As musicians you always tend to think of your latest work as your best work, but I honestly believe that this is the best picture of JBB that we’ve painted yet. We put a lot of work and hours into it and I think it is Elliot’s best batch of songs. The tunes are massive and everything kind of came together – the tunes, the production, the artwork, the performances and the vibes of the sessions. A lot of people are really responding to the fact that there are a few more rootsier tunes that kind of hearkens back to our earlier work and I think a lot of people were craving that a bit. It’s a pinpoint representation of what JBB is, has been and what will be in the future.
How does this album honor JBB’s past?
I think it’s a perfect blending of the progressive style of JBB and the roots that we cut our teeth on too. The way we honor the past is to make the best music we can right now. We’re not trying to recreate an album we did, but we approach it with the same sincerity – music that we love to listen to and love to play. Elliot definitely targeted having a few more classic rootsier jams like “Plantation,” – which is melody after melody. It’s just a beautiful piece of music. And then we have a ballad on there, “Falling Deep,” which is something we haven’t done in awhile – if ever really. I think the album really captures the essence of what the band is right now and what it’s been and it all makes sense.
Two songs on the album that stood out for me were the opening track “Step Inside,” and a song that appears later “Old John Brown.” Can you talk about those tracks?
Elliot’s demos kick butt and I remember hearing the demo for “Step Inside,” and getting my head blown off. The groove – the cutting edge vibe of it – it sounded like one of those rhythm tracks that established Jamaican artists like Capleton or Morgan Heritage have. It’s a heavy-hitting tune and we wanted to let people know right off the bat that we mean business with this record and we’re ready to roll.
When I heard “Old John Brown,” I immediately thought 21st century Burning Spear, and Burning Spear is one of our huge influences and we’ve spent a lot of time on the road with them. Their horn section and their tightness was a huge influence on us. I think “Old John Brown” is a nod to Spear but it’s done in a JBB-separate style. You don’t really hear that groove played a lot in the modern reggae scene right now. We’ve been playing that during the live shows and people are going pretty hops over that one.
Over the years, how has Elliot taken on more control and leadership of the band?
Elliot has always been a force on stage and an amazing presence and people have always latched on to his energy on stage. He’s an incredible performer and singer on stage. His voice – there’s only one Elliot Martin out there – is phenomenal. He’s always been one of my favorite singers. The first bunch of JBB records were written by Kevin Kinsella. We used to have two singers during the first 4 or 5 records, so Elliot was more of backup singer. He would be on stage and he would sing harmonies and vocals. He would sing crucial harmony parts even though he wasn’t writing the songs.
When we put out the record, Spirits All around Us – that was the beginning of Elliot really busting out. That was the first record, where he had written three songs. When the band started hearing the potential of playing that style and having that in the arsenal, then it was just a matter of time before we really wanted to focus on that approach. It was more of a cutting edge sound. When Kevin left the band in 2006, then that was it – Elliot was the front man and that was the end of the story. Amplify (2008) was written pretty much by him and Kings and Queens is a step to the next level as a songwriter.
You’re the only original member of the band left. What has kept you going and keeping JBB what it is?
Pretty simple: the music. It certainly hasn’t been easy at times. There’s many ups and downs being a musician, but at the end of the day when I get to play this music with my brothers and I feel the band getting better every show and I feel that. People come up to me on every tour and say, ‘You guys never sounded better, how do you do it?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ I’m inspired by the music I get to play and the people I get to play it with. In that sense it makes it easy, but there were times when everything went down in 2006, we weren’t sure how we were going to proceed and the music kind of led the way for us. Elliot started writing more music and then we started kind of restructuring the sound of the band and the music just kind of got better and the vibes just kept getting better. It’s been a huge part of my life since my 20s.
I read that you’ve described playing in an eight-piece band to being in a rocket ship, can you elaborate on that?
We’ve always prided ourselves on taking out a full horn section. We don’t cut corners on the sound. When we travel we roll with a B3 organ, a clavinet, and a three-piece horn section. The sounds are big and it’s a lot of sounds and it’s a heavy energy. Our bass player Nate is one of my musical heroes and my best buddy and the drum and bass are second to none. That’s what it feels like when you’re up there pumping away and the horns are ranging, the organs are bubbling and the bass is practically overturning your drum set. It’s that kind of vibe and I would not have it any other way. I love the feel of it.
And finally, looking at your touring schedule, the band is making its tenth appearance at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival in Trumansburg, NY.
We’ve played a lot of festivals across the country and GrassRoots is always at the top of all of the lists as the festival we look forward to the most. The level and the quality of the music. All the musicians are there for the right reason. They always go for the pure artists and it’s inspiring. We’ve played there for over a decade and we’re one of the main draws at this point. We usually play a headlining set on a Friday night in front of lots and lots of people and it’s a highlight for the festival people and for us as well. We always look forward to it.
