Benoit Deteurtre

David Benoit - Professional Dreamer (1999) {GRP Records GRD-9942}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 307 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 112 Mb
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© 1999 GRP Records / Universal Music | GRD-9942
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Crossover Jazz

The pairing of smooth jazz's premier veteran pianist and trumpeter/producer Rick Braun is remarkable. The six tracks produced by the latter offer a unique contrast between thick, hip-hoppy bass grooves and Benoit's peppy, angst-free ivory musings. On the in-your-face "Rejoyce," Benoit's swirling, high-register melody combines with Pat Kelley's Wes Montgomery-like electric licks (and Benoit's own Hammond B-3 harmony coloring) for a floating ride above a jumpy retro-soul rhythm. The underpinnings are even chunkier on "Jump Start," which finds Benoit's piano and Andy Suzuki's playful alto making light, bluesy conversation over a throbbing hip-hop pattern. Braun also gives Benoit space here for some lower-toned piano improvisations.

Louisiana journeyman swamp rocker Tab Benoit has been churning out an album a year since at least 2002, and between them he stays on the road playing every festival, club, and bar that'll have him. It would seem inevitable that the quality of these studio recordings would decline. But, at least as of 2007's Power of the Pontchartrain, that isn't the case. If anything, this might be the best of a very good lot, as Benoit again teams with Louisiana's Le Roux group (who once backed legend Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and helped on Benoit's previous release) for another 52-minute wade through muggy yet taut bayou blues. Part of the reason Benoit's recent albums are so strong is that he doesn't insist on playing original material, instead cherry-picking nuggets rearranged to suit his approach. This works particularly well here since he unearths terrific, often obscure material from writers such as Julie Miller (two tracks), David Egan (two others), and even Stephen Stills (a not entirely necessary "For What It's Worth").

Tab Benoit is back. While he's rarely been absent from the road, it took 13 years for him to follow the globally acclaimed Medicine, produced and co-written with Anders Osborne. Benoit hasn't been stuck creatively; it took him that long to free himself from a horrible record deal. Justice Records issued his first five albums while his reputation spread internationally due to the blues guitarist and songwriter's innovative playing style. When the label folded in the late '90s, his contract and catalog transferred to Vanguard, then Telarc, then Concord, without his consent. He was unable to extricate himself from it, and simply refused to issue another album without adequate compensation.

Tab Benoit - Standing On The Bank (1995)
Blues | MP3 VBR Extreme L.A.M.E. | 71 MB
Publisher: Vanguard

On his third album, Tab Benoit stripped his sound to its bare essentials by recording live, directly to a two-track. Naturally, the process gives Standing on the Bank a startling immediacy, as the guitarist shreds a number of originals to pieces with his piercing solos.