Benji

Benji Kirkpatrick - founder member of big band folk behemoth 'Bellowhead' and power folk trio 'Faustus' - is a massive fan of Jimi Hendrix. Though immersed in folk tradition and a stalwart of the folk scene, Benji now takes the songs of Jimi Hendrix and re-interprets them; stripping back the layers of guitar, the psychedelia, the era and bringing the songs out in their pure form…

Composer and guitarist Benji Kaplan is an artist that brings vivid colors to his music, both in sound and imagery. Kaplan has three albums already in his growing discography: Meditações no violão, a solo guitar album, Reveries em Som, an album of duets with flautist Anne Drummond; and Uai Sô, a project that features various ensembles that explore his composition and arranging styles. For Kaplan's fourth release, he is combining a wind quintet with his acoustic nylon-stringed guitar, entitled Chorando Sete Cores. The quintet features: Anne Drummond on C and alto flutes, Remy LeBeouf on clarinet and bass clarinet, and David Byrd-Marrow on French horn. The album has thirteen Kaplan originals that are a display of Kaplan's compositional virtuosity as well as the mastery of the five players performing them. Chorando Sete Cores translated is cries of the seven-colored tanager. The seven-colored tanager is a vulnerable species of bird in the family Thraupidae that lives in the forests of north-eastern Brazil.