Absorption/Transmission

As exactly one-half of the Benevento/Russo Duo, a modern-jazz-meets-post-rock drum-and-organ outfit, keyboardist and circuit-bender Marco Benevento has been proving himself an innovator and major player in New York’s experimental downtown jazz scene since the turn of the millennium. Culminating on this night with a party celebrating Benevento’s new solo release Invisible Baby, Marco set-up shop at Sullivan Hall each Thursday night in January enlisting a different group of musicians each week drawing from among his closest friends and contemporaries (including Kaki King, Stanton Moore, and Joe Russo) to join him in reopening the recently renovated former Lion’s Den. With the first four Thursdays consisting almost entirely of unrehearsed group improvisation (some among the freest of form I have ever experienced), January 31st scheduled Marco with Andrew Barr of The Slip on drums and Reed Mathis of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey on bass, a triumvirate that goes back further than last year’s Invisible Baby sessions, to Marco’s highly successful November 2006 residency which produced his first official solo release, Live At Tonic. (Marco and the guys from The Slip go back yet further to their days as friends and fellow students at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.) While the trio ran through a number of relatively succinct and singable instrumental tracks from the new record, it was the choice selection of covers incorporated into the set during which the group, as well as the individual musicians themselves, truly gleamed as creative entities. Both My Morning Jacket’s “Golden” and Pink Floyd’s “Fearless” stood out as clear highlights to most of the crowd (though I can’t speak specifically for Rolling Stone’s David Fricke or The Adventures of Pete and Pete’s Danny Tamberelli) until around 1am when Andrew’s brother and Slip-mate Brad Barr joined the group on guitar for the final “cover” of the night, and thus the month, The Duo’s signature “Mephisto.”

Marco Benevento & Friends – “Mephisto” Sullivan Hall, NYC 1/31/08

Current Listening: Yeasayer’s All Hour Cymbals