Benevento turns up the "oomph" at Logan Square Auditorium

Note: Photos by Aaron Facemire.

Marco Benevento's show at Logan Square Auditorium on Thursday was a great one, but I'm not sure how to describe it.


Listening to his latest album Me, Not Me didn't really prepare me for what I saw. Yes the songs were the same ones, and Benevento is just as out-there live as he is on record, but there was a lot more power to it.

They had a lot more "oomph," and most of the credit goes to drummer Simon Lott, who was the equivalent of a hard-rock jazz percussionist. I don't know how else to describe it, except that he kept time with such force that is unusual for jazz (and with his funny faces, he was probably the most entertaining player to watch).

Bassist Reed Mathis gets credit too, for holding down a low-end that often gets lost in the style they were playing.

The show featured a heavy sampling of songs (mostly covers) from the new record, as they began with My Morning Jacket's "Golden." Started with a sampler of a rhythm, the band kicked in full force, bringing out different emotions in each section of the song.

As the night went on, the band got looser but just as weird. Their jazz gave way to rock, pop and many unclassifiable tunes (at one point there were girls dancing onstage), and they covered songs by Neil Young ("Don't Let It Bring You Down") and Deerhoof ("Twin Killers").

And Benevento's own material was just as strong. He has a real ear for melody, so even his improvisation wasn't based on showing off. Instead, he tried to find the best piano line to mesh with the other instruments.

And then there were the effects. Benevento himself stuck pretty much to his upright piano, but he found plenty of uses for it with his array of effects pedals. Sometimes it sounded like the wind, other times it sounded like a guitar. But he was able to make use of an acoustic instrument and turn it into something it is not.

Benevento and the band closed with a cover of The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There," which had everyone bashing their instruments. It managed to be more joyful than the original, which was pretty much the theme of the show (it got the 30 or so people in the audience dancing too).

As pointed out by cohort Aaron Facemire, this was real music, and it sounded good to hear that for a change.

Opening band The Liquid Beat Allstars went on for about an hour, and that was about 40 minutes too long.

It was like Phish gone jazz. They jammed for too long on a sound that got very repetitious (smooth jazz with funk bass lines and synthesized strings), often having four or five points in each song could have logically ended.


Prince does that in his sleep, and I'd rather hear him than them.

Avant-jazz and the cover: the music of Marco Benevento

Note: Photo courtesy of Calabro Music Media.

Marco Benevento has a unique way of making a cover.

It doesn't entail merely regurgitating a melody with another singer or instrument (even though they remain intact). No, a cover to this eclectic-jazz artist means deconstructing a song, finding colorful additions or flourishes, and making a whole new song out of it.

"When you play a tune and do your own thing to it, it's important to retain the musical color of it," Benevento said. "You need to capture the essence of it and put your essence in it at the same time."

Benevento put this to good use with his latest album Me, Not Me. A jazz record in only the simplest terms, Benevento puts his "essence" into songs by Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen and a few originals. The versatile pianist (he also plays solo shows, is in the Benevento-Russo Duo, and often collaborates with other artists) is able to make the songs his own, by running his piano through various effects and pedals.

The album was a project he had wanted to do since he moved to New York in 2000.

"It's been done in rock music and every other kind of music," Benevento said. "I have been playing these songs for a long time, and I finally felt comfortable enough to do such a thing."

Benevento said the songs picked for this record are ones he has been playing for a long time ("certain songs lend themselves to improvisation and reorganization, but it takes time to try them live"), and ones he feels a personal connection with.

One of the most popular tracks he has reinterpreted though, is the song "Golden" by My Morning Jacket. While the melody remains intact, the focus instead shifts onto the percussion and rhythm, re-imagining it as more groove-oriented than the original's moody acoustic vibe.

Benevento said that was one of the songs he really wanted to stick out on the album, adding tempo and mood changes throughout the song that weren't imagined the first time around.

It's a great cover, but best of all, it's a weird one.

And if Benevento's music errs on the side of weird on record, it's a whole different beast in concert. With this tour, which brings him to Logan Square Auditorium on Thursday, he is playing as a trio, including bass, drums and whatever piano there is for him to tinker with.

"I just put some pedals in a backpack and a microphone that I leave in the piano," Benevento said. "I then run it through a guitar amp to recreate the song."

This can provide mixed results though, as not every piano has the same sound (he describes it as "Frankensteining" the piano).

Still, with the gamble that is every new piano, there is a guarantee that every show will be unique.

"It's exciting to find the piano as a whole other instrument," he said. "It's almost like a guitar concept of a piano. You get feedback, and there are fluctuations, because it's a live acoustic instrument."

Marco Benevento, with Liquid Beat Allstars, will be at Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Blvd, Chicago, Thursday, April 9 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.