Benoit Deteurtre

Tab Benoit has gone the live route before on his recordings, and he's smart to keep reminding listeners every so often that that's where he's at his best. Which is not to take away from Benoit's studio recordings, all of which – including last year's excellent Power of the Pontchartrain – are admirable showcases for his consistently solid blues guitar chops and gritty vocalizing. As on the last effort, Benoit is backed here by the New Orleans fixture Louisiana's Leroux, who provide the kind of muscular foundation that makes Benoit's funk that much funkier. They're all most at home when churning out a basic boogie like "Muddy Bottom Blues," one of a trio of songs on which Benoit and band are joined by Wet Willie's Jimmy Hall, and "Too Sweet for Me," which spotlights Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds on harp. But on the occasions when they lay low, like "Fever for the Bayou," with guest Jumpin' Johnny Sansome sailing on the accordion, Benoit finds a deeper connection with the soul of New Orleans, a soul that, in this post-Katrina age, we all need to connect with more than ever.

Tab Benoit's latest release on Telarc, Fever for the Bayou, continues in what has become Benoit's signature territory, a funky, ragged blend of Louisiana swamp blues and East Texas guitar, with hints of funk, soul, and country thrown in to give the gumbo just the right spice. If it sounds like a formula, well, Benoit's jagged guitar playing and increasingly soulful vocals make it clear that this is the music he loves, so it hardly matters. He touches a lot of bases here, including an eerie approximation of Elmore James' slide sound on a cover of James' "I Can't Hold Out" (which also features some cool tenor sax work from Jimmy Carpenter), then conjures Buddy Guy on Guy's "I Smell a Rat," fires up on the old Slim Harpo chestnut "Got Love if You Want It," and tears through a wonderfully swampy take on Levon Helm's "Blues So Bad" before ending things with an acoustic version of Clarence Williams' "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" (made famous by another Williams, Hank Williams Sr.).

David Benoit has been quoted as saying that when he started recording Earthglow, he wanted the entire album to have a very electronica-minded approach, "with long loops and lots of samples, with a little piano in the mix." But Clark Germain, who Benoit co-produced Earthglow with, felt that going too far in the electronica direction would be a mistake – and Benoit decided that Germain was right. That's a good thing because Earthglow, it turns out, is one of the more memorable albums in Benoit's catalog. "Will's Chill" (which was named after will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas) and "Straight Away" offer some acknowledgment of the downtempo/chillout/trip-hop aesthetic one finds on the softer side of electronica, but even then, Benoit doesn't allow the production to smother his musicianship.

This program is more difficult to describe than it is to enjoy. These are Vivaldi’s “works for cello and organ,” except Vivaldi wrote no works for that combination of instruments! In other words, the five works listed in the headnote as being by Vivaldi are played in transcriptions for cello and organ. Going from basso continuo to organ accompaniment does not require a remarkable amount of creativity. On the other hand, organist Boucher is given the credit he merits for his more ambitious transcriptions of the Violin Concerto, and with the movements from the Stabat mater and the Gloria. The two works by Bach are played on the organ alone. However, these, too, are transcriptions, as these works originally were written by Vivaldi. The Keyboard Concerto in F is Bach’s transcription of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in G, RV 310, and the Organ Concerto in A minor is Bach’s transcription of Vivaldi’s Concerto in A Minor for Two Violins, RV 522.

Since launching his recording career in 1977, David Benoit’s expansive career as a contemporary jazz pianist has included over 25 solo recordings. His ‘80s releases This Side Up, Freedom at Midnight and the GRAMMY nominated Every Step of the Way are considered influential genre classics. Among his other Grammy nominations are those for Best Instrumental Composition (for “Dad’s Room,” from 1999’s Professional Dreamer) and Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance (for the GRP All-Star Big Band). His prolific output since 2000 includes several prominent Charlie Brown related projects (including Here's To You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years and the star-studded 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas) that reflect his lifelong passion for the music of original Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi and solidify Benoit’s role as his musical heir. Benoit has also released the Billboard Contemporary Jazz charting albums Fuzzy Logic, Right Here, Right Now, Full Circle and Heroes, which paid homage to the pianist’s top jazz and pop influences.

The Benoit Freeman Project 2 is an collaboration album by American pianist David Benoit and American Guitarist Russ Freeman released in 2004, and recorded for the Peak label. The album reached #7 on Billboard's Jazz chart. Russ Freeman also serves as leader and frontman for the Rippingtons.

The Benoit Freeman Project is a collaboration album by American pianist David Benoit and American guitarist Russ Freeman released in 1994, and recorded for the GRP label. The album reached #2 on Billboard's Jazz chart. Russ Freeman also serves as leader and frontman for the Rippingtons.