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The piano is the instrument I started on, the instrument I practice the most on and the instrument I've studied the most on. To be in that space was great. I can't get enough of playing the piano. |
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Photo by Michael Weintrob
Did you ever get to hang out with Pelé?
 Marco Benevento by Jay Blakesberg |
Totally. At the end of every game they'd play "Nobody Does it Better," and my parents would be like, "Come on, Marco, let's go," and I'd say, "Wait." I always loved that tune. It was always a sad, day-ending thing. I'd be in Giant Stadium with all these people around and then the song would come on and I knew it was over. I only realized years later that it was a Carly Simon tune, not a Cosmos tune, and so I started playing it. But then, after the fact, I got this Radiohead album [a bootleg titled Ground Control To Major Thom] and the last song was "Nobody Does it Better." I freaked out. Back to the Mehldau thing though – Joe and I used to cover "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and when I first went to Mehldau's house he was like, "Sit down at the piano. I'll be right there." So I went downstairs, sat at the piano, and I saw the music on the piano. I didn't want to look at it because I didn't want to disturb what he was working on. I was just stupid and nervous, like, "Holy shit, I'm at Brad Mehldau's house." So, I eventually look at the sheet of music and it was "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." When he came back, I was like, "Dude, I cover this tune with Joe. We have a duo." He was like, "Oh really, how do you do it?" I was immediately like, "I don't know." Anyway, long story short, I've always thought that covers are a cool window into your favorite artist. Maybe someone will be like, "Oh, cool. He covered that Pink Floyd tune 'Fearless' with distortion on an acoustic piano."
They almost have a confessional quality – song's that are recognizable but distorted in a very particular way. They sound like your own.
 Marco Benevento by Kevin Quinn |
Exactly. I've always been a fan of the, kind of, lo-fi, distorted piano. It's like a distant memory of the classic instrument. It's nice to treat the piano like a guitar, as a lead instrument, throw some distortion on it and crank it through the house. When people hear that I'm doing a piano trio thing, they don't think about loudness or intensity. They say, "Oh, sort of a jazzy thing [laughs]." Oh, I'm going to get into some shit here [pauses]. My father's always been like, "Don't try and reinvent the wheel." And it's very true, a lot of shit's been done already. You don't have to go crazy and make your life harder. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. The cool thing about new art that is, maybe, successful or loved in this world, is that it's a natural thing. It's not that I'm doing this on purpose or anything. It's just this natural progression of me being, like, why not throw distortion on the piano and see what that's like.
Yeah, but I think there's this ripple effect when people hear something like that and have trouble making heads or tails of it. This album being such a jazz-oriented one, it kind of falls between the cracks of what would commonly be considered jazz or rock or anything in between. How do you respond to being called a post-jazz or post-rock artist? Is it at all consequential in your mind?
 Marco Benevento by Jay Blakesberg |
No. I don't care what they call me. They can call me jam band. Put this interview on JamBase and call me "jam" [laughs]. The quote for me about jazz is what Dizzy Gillespie said: "All music is folk music. I ain't never heard a horse play music."
It's interesting because I often hear you lumped into this kind of weird, ambiguous genre called "post-jam," along with Reed and the guys from The Slip and Scott Metzger.
[Laughs] I guess there is an overall wave of things.
In a way it's more a mark of traditional jazz, harkening back to a time when everyone was playing with everyone else.
Yeah. It's what's happening now. A lot of the jammers are getting into Wilco and Mehldau's on websites for people who like different kinds of music. Same with Radiohead. There is a general wave of change. People are interested in hearing something new and they're getting it with new bands out there like Deerhoof and Two Gallants. It's all "post" music.
So, looking into the future a bit, what lies ahead? More collaborations? Is there still a stone you need to turn over?
 Marco Benevento |
I think there're still a ton of stones left unturned. So, there will be more of that, but a new Duo album is definitely in the future. Joe and I have a nice foundation of people who like to see us, as well as a great songwriting collaboration. Then more piano stuff with Reed and Matt or anybody - maybe Andrew Barr from The Slip, maybe an upright player. I'm sure I'll take any opportunity I get to play with anyone new.
Great. Well, I wanted to ask you real quick about how fatherhood is treating you. I hear you just had a kid.
I did, I did. It's actually caused a beautiful period of pause and clarity. There's a greatness about touring all the time and then there's a greatness in taking a break for a second. I now pretty much know the meaning of love, with my lady and my baby. My two ladies. It's a really great thing.
Marco Benevento - "Live At Tonic"
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