Photo by Rob Chapman
Marco Benevento thrives in situations like Jazz Fest. Never one to sit still, Benevento has bounced between countless bands, side projects and sit-ins since his first visit to New Orleans in 2001—playing with some of the biggest names in the jam, funk, indie and jazz worlds along the way. This spring alone, Benevento is celebrating the release of a new studio effort with Garage a Trois, working on a new Surprise Me Mr. Davis album with the members of The Slip and Nathan Moore and sitting on his fourth and finest solo record in under five years. That’s not to mention a dizzying mix of collaborations that includes appearances with the likes of Booker T. to Bonerama and Billy Martin. While in New Orleans, Benevento brought us up to date on his new album with Garage A Trois, the forthcoming Surprise Me Mr. Davis album, the future of the Benevento-Russo Duo and much more.
Let’s start by talking about JazzFest. You are going to make your Fairgrounds debut this weekend as a guest of Bonerama. How did that collaboration come about?
I just love those guys. They are very welcoming. I have played a bunchwith them before and people have always said, “You should sit in with them some time.” I did a collaboration with Bonerama’s Mark Mullins, Billy Martin and Dave Dreiwitz from Ween last year at Tip’s French Quarter, and we had a great time. So I guess it really came about there. Then this year I literally got a text about it and I said, “Alright, let’s do it.” I am super excited—this is going to be my first time playing the Fairgrounds at Jazz Fest. I love coming down here.
You play Jazz Fest almost every year and also seem to play with more and more bands each year. What was your first Jazz Fest experience like?
I have been coming down here since 2001—basically ten years—and I’ve only missed one or two years since then. I came down here with The Slip guys in 2001 because they had some shows. I was sitting in with them and just kind of hanging out. We were sleeping on friends’ floors back then and just sort of getting to know the place but absolutely loving it. My first appearance at Jazz Fest with a bunch of my own gigs was with The Duo in 2003. Now it has grown into a place where we know so many people—it is a home away from home—and I am staying at a really nice house that my friend has with my wife and kids. A lot of stuff has happened in the past ten years since I have been coming here—it has been great to see how it all grows and also see how New Orleans is changing.
In certain ways your time at JazzFest has mirrored your career arc. You started coming as a fan and in ten years you have made it to the main Acura stage.
Totally. And those years where I played with Mike Gordon and Joe Russo, we played down here in 2005. So many memories have happened here.
You are also in the process of releasing your second album with Garage A Trois, Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil, on your own label. What led you to join the band and how have you felt your presence has changed the group’s sound?
Going back to the frequent visiting of this festival, The Duo opened for Garage A Trois at Tip’s a few years ago. Then we did some post-Phish shows down in Hampton, VA, and we just all started hanging out. So I guess my involvement with them started when I just got to know them in the early 2000s when Joe and I were touring a bunch. Then Charlie Hunter didn’t want to be in the band anymore—he has his own band that tours so he wanted to focus on that a little more. They were left with that and thought, “What one person can cover basslines and also do some composing and soloing” and thought a Hammond organ player might fit. Since they knew me—and since we all had a great time hanging out at gigs and talking about music and enjoying each other’s musical company—it was as simple as that. For a while they called it Garage A Benevento and when they officially wanted to make it a band, they luckily changed it back to Garage A Trois.
The band has taken a whole new direction since I have been involved. If you listen to the records they made with Charlie, it is really more funk and groove-oriented. This album is more riff rock and more compositional—it is much more about the songs instead of the solo sections. It is a whole different angle—it is a lot louder, which is something Charlie was never into. He used to always say, “Why do you guys have to play so loud?” He actually mentioned that a few times [laughter.]. So Garage A Trois is super in your face right now—almost punk, though Stanton Moore is still a swinging drummer being from New Orleans and all. But in Garage A Trois he is playing more like he’s in Tortoise than The Meters. I feel like I had a lot to do with the change on the last two records but at the same time Skerik and Mike D are masterful songwriters. They come up with some great riffs, and I can be supportive in that role and I can sink into that style. That is the type of style I like to compose in too, so it is super powerful watching Stanton play in a band that gives him an outlet like this.
Given that you are all involved in so many different projects, what was the process like writing Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil ? Did you each work on ideas on your own?
We basically all knew we were going to get together for a week to work on the album. We had a day to practice and then four days to record. Everybody would write their song ideas down and bring those ideas to the band. Generally I would say musicians are always messing around with song ideas—even if it is just in their heads. So ideas will come to your head all the time but our headspace was geared towards going in and recording a Garage A Trois record. So for the most part, when anybody would come up with a riff leading up to the recording of the album in January, they would bring it to the table and in rehearsals, and we started putting them all together. Everybody had a lot of ideas so we sort of had this big table covered in all these awesome little bits of paper and ideas scribbled on old magazines. Then Skerik’s friend Randall Dunn—this awesome mixing engineer—helped put it all together. I would imagine if you were dealing with a singer or writing lyrics it might take longer but we did it really quickly. It was super fun.
Who came up with the album’s awesome title?
CoCo, Skerik’s daughter. I think she is about 9. We all loved it when she said it and said, “Let’s just make t-shirts with that on it” and we made t-shirts with this evil, smiley Dracula face. We were all like, “Let’s use that as the album’s title.”
In addition to a variety of sit-ins and super groups, your current projects include an acoustic piano trio (Marco Benevento Trio), a punk/funk instrumental group (Garage A Trois) and a psychedelic folk rock band (Surprise Me Mr. Davis). Do you find it hard to constantly adapt your style of playing to such different settings?
Luckily, I can be myself in all these groups, which is amazing. I get to satisfy different musical urges—whether it is coming up with a nice, simple Hammond organ part for Davis or an acoustic piano part with my trio. I have been playing rock keyboards with Davis and just trying to work around all the different sounds that they might want for an evening and those will be different sounds than I would play on my own. But I get to fully be myself which is great—the reason I am in the band is because of all the sounds I have. People almost hire you for your tastes and what you can bring to the table. I am lucky that people are hiring me for who I am and don’t tell me to play a certain way. I am really thankful for that. You can definitely learn some things from being a hired hand but it is kind of a drag. In all these bands I really get to be who I want to be or add what I want to add.
Not many musicians are that lucky that you can jump between all these situations while still sounding the same.
I would like to know the percentage of musicians who are almost hired guns, doing what they are told to do. I like to think that only a small percent of the musical population tends to deal with that but I am really lucky. Even in the Bitches Brew project, which is a new band for me, I brought in my pedals and I am kind of doing my thing on top of their thing. I remember I went to France to play with them and someone said all surprised, “Look at that little keyboard toy.” I didn’t really think about it and then said, “Oh yeah, that is what I do with all my bands.” Music stands out when you can really be yourself as a musician.
Moving on to Davis, you are in a unique situation in that you have seen that band develop since before day one—and long before you became an official member. Did you enter the group with certain pre-conceived ideas about where you could add keyboard parts or your own voice in general?
I have been playing with Davis for almost two years and it isn’t until now I am finally scratching the surface of that band. There were some parts that they had pre-conceived for me but I never had thought about what I should bring in. I didn’t know their music too well—I had heard it a bunch but I didn’t know the songs that well. Plus, they are always writing new songs. Nathan Moore has about 400 songs available to him. Even now, every gig I am like, “What song is this?” So I am surprised at every gig and intuitively see what happens and what keyboard part I should bring to the moment.
We just did a gig in Brooklyn at the Bell House and it was a really rainy, cold night. Not many people came—it was a Tuesday—but it was a great gig and the people there had a great time. I finally felt like, “Oh, the Hammond organ goes here and the toy piano goes there and the string part goes here. ” It was really starting to come together for me. There is a lot of technical stuff that I need to get involved with—in terms of my whole keyboard world—and dealing with a computer for a lot of their sounds. A lot of the clubs we are playing don’t have all the keyboards I need so I am hoping to use a computer a lot more. The clubs just have the safe shit. I have also been singing a little bit with them, which is new for me. I woke up after one of our shows and said, “Why does my throat hurt?”
We have a new record coming together. We recorded it already and are currently mixing it and adding overdubs. There are a lot of keyboards on this new Davis record and lots of undertones of piano and Casio keyboard sounds.
Do you have any plans to work on a new album with your trio?
I recorded with Reed [Mathis] and Andrew [Barr] in December. It was the most incredible studio experience I’ve ever had. It was at East West in LA, which is where the Beach Boys recorded Pet Sounds. We recorded in Studio 3, which is the small studio there, with Tom Biller, who has worked with Kanye West and did the Duo record Play Pause Stop, and Matt Chamberlain helped out as well.
The rates were affordable, and we stayed at Tom’s house. A lot of studios are going through these dry months where they have to bring their rates down if they want to stay afloat. Tom worked out a deal that is still out of my price range but made it possible for us. We had a blast—I am currently sitting with the stuff and have done some work on it but I am really taking my time on this one. I am in no rush to get it out. I put out three great records with the trio and I think I want those to be in heavy rotation for a bit longer before I figure out what the fourth record will turn into.
Your most recent albums have mixed originals and covers. Does this album have a similar range of songs?
It is all originals and so far it is my most favorite stuff I have ever recorded. The sound quality is amazing—the snare drums are the best we have ever recorded. It just sounds incredible. I think it is a going to be a different kind of album. I don’t know how to describe it except that it has a different vibe.
The trio with Andrew and Reed has definitely solidified as its own band. Though you continue to tour with other versions of the Marco Benevento Trio, was there a point where you, Andrew and Reed felt like a band ?
Totally. During that tour in December [2010] it really sealed the deal for all of us. We toured from Portland, OR to LA to record and it was the best the trio has ever sounded. We all had this feeling like, “this is the band.” We all love playing with each other—it is unfortunate that I can’t get those guys on every gig. But at the same time it gives me an opportunity to put my musical library on over great bass players and drummers. We are playing with Billy Martin at Jazz Fest so you can hear my tunes with a slightly Billy Martin-ized feel. Billy, Dave and I did some shows with Mark down here in New Orleans and then drove to Mississippi for a gig. So that relationship is really growing too. I am really psyched about that.
I have also been playing with Dave Dreiwitz and Andy Borger when Andrew and Reed aren’t available and we have reached that level as well, though they do have to play what is on the record.
The trio has definitely found its own sound over the past three records.
The trio actually started out as Matt Chamberlain and Andrew but Matt was so darn busy. Everyone is so darn busy—all my friends are busy [laughter]. It is a constantly evolving thing but it is great when we can all hang out together. But Reed, Andrew and I have really reached a new level of comfort as a trio. It is really growing and getting there.
Live at Tonic was recorded in 2006 and my band basically started there. So the whole concept of having my own band is really only a five-year-old, young idea. So maybe in five years the trio will really be sounding good.
Do you have any plans to tour or record with Joe as The Duo? You only played one show together last year and it was an acoustic show.
We really want to and we’ve been asked to play but something has always come up with scheduling. Joe is getting married and I had my second kid a year-and-a-half ago. I am really busy with the trio, Garage A Trois and Davis and Joe is super busy with Furthur. So it is there and we want to do it but I think it will come together naturally. I don’t think anybody will lose touch for sure. We will both be very excited—I can’t wait to do an electric Duo show with our real instruments. I do like doing the acoustic Duo shows, too—and I can do some more of those shows—but I would really like to see the loud, rocking Duo experience.
Sometimes the longer you wait the more in demand a project becomes.
I can picture Joe and I meticulously rehearsing for months when we get together. When we do get together we really want to be dialed in—it is a lot of sounds to make with just two people. It is kind of like Blue Man Group where you have to hit your knees while you hit something else with your hand. It takes some time to really get that monster well oiled. We have new songs, actually. When we did an acoustic Duo show in New York City [in August 2010] we tried out some new ones. It is all sitting there just waiting for us.
Was there a specific point where your headspace shifted from the Duo to your solo career? Some of your first Marco Benevento Trio songs actually felt like Duo songs.
It’s true. It was definitely a morphing from the Duo to the trio to the trio really blossoming into its own thing. Joe and I were even playing “Atari” and “Bus Ride” [from Benevento’s solo albums] together and trying them out. That is what you do when you get together with your buddy and you are writing new music, you play the songs. So I was playing him “Atari” and “Bus Ride” and the “The Real Morning Party” [from Benevento’s solo album] and we tried to figure out how to play them with The Duo.
We tried to figure it out and write some more parts for those songs together—it was the early stages of the trio. The Duo was fizzling out—and then really fizzled out to one show a year—and the trio was taking off. We started playing “Atari” and “Bus Ride” with The Duo but when I played “The Real Morning Party” for Joe he just started laughing. He put his head down and said, “What else you got? I can’t play that. Are you crazy!” [laughter] But Reed was like, “I love this song. I want to throw my hair back and bask in the sunshine.”
So Joe and I were working on these song ideas and then I brought them to the table with Reed and Andrew for Invisible Baby and we said, “Great, let’s just do them like this.” The songs were written before I knew it. Then I went home and said, “I just spent money on a bunch of demos. What am I going to do with these tracks we made?” Meanwhile, it is my most favorite record I have made.
You have always been good about trying different songs with your different projects.
Some songs you can cross between different bands, which is cool. I love that—I like playing all my songs with all my projects. That’s just me. Garage A Trois plays The Duo’s “Scratchitti” and I play “The Real Morning Party” with Surprise Me Mr. Davis, occasionally. Music is to be shared. It is great when a song can live in all these different places
It is funny how people react to songs. I played a trio song for Mike D and Skerik and they both said, “You got anything else for me, dude?” Sometimes songs just don’t vibe with people. Sometimes they don’t even vibe with me and I will be like, “Why did I write that?”
I’ve always felt your songs are really these improvisational themes with different hooks and themes to latch onto. You might be in the middle of a jam and then one of them will emerge.
It is interesting to get different people’s takes on music and how their attitudes changes while we are writing or rehearsing. Sometimes they get very microscopic and—before you know it—you have wasted 2 hours on 5 seconds of music and that can be really, really bad for you. Some people are really flippant and their songs are lacking depth and meaning. But it is hard to find that middle balance. I’ve been thinking about being a professional songwriter—a professional capturist—and wondering how something floats through you like Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost. It is really difficult to do that—to capture what is flowing right through you.
It is difficult to find that middle balance.
It’s true. It is difficult. It is a tough balance of letting go and staying focused. But that seems to be the theme of this JazzFest. You need to stay up all night sitting in and jamming at 4 AM. You want to make music for people you are standing there and you are onstage with four musicians you have never met before and there are no songs you can play. You just have to improvise.
