Home » Jazz Musicians » Michel Benita
Michel Benita
Michel Benita: Looking At Sounds
by Friedrich Kunzmann
Michel Benita's leader-debut with his Ethics band for ECM, 2016's River Silver, came as a welcome addition to his oeuvre and the label's catalogue, following the French bassist's earlier characteristic contributions in saxophonist Andy Sheppard's Trio Libero on Trio Libero (ECM, 2012) and Surrounded By Sea (ECM, 2015). As on the first Ethics album, 2010's self-titled effort released on OutNote, on River Silver Benita unified an international pool of musicians, with Norwegian guitar-scape designer Eivind Aarset washing atmospheric clouds over ...
read moreLawrence Sieberth Quartet: An Evening In Paris
by Dan McClenaghan
New Orleans-based pianist Lawrence Sieberth is a versatile music man--a bandleader, keyboard accompanist, composer, producer. A trip to Paris and a teaming with Parisian players resulted in An Evening In Paris, an atmospherically cohesive set that covers a wide range of styles. The set of eight Sieberth originals opens with “August," a tune that exudes the loveliest of straight ahead moods--deceptively, perhaps. There is a gentleness and delicacy to the sound initially, saxophonist Stephane Guillaume blowing cool, in ...
read moreMichel Benita Ethics: River Silver
by Angelo Leonardi
A sei anni dal magnifico esordio, passato inosservato fuori dalla Francia (Ethics, Zig-Zag Territoires 2010), il quintetto di Michel Benita arriva al primo disco per la ECM, trovando finalmente una platea internazionale e numerosi estimatori. La musica e i protagonisti della formazione sono uno splendido esempio di quello che Giorgio Gaslini chiamava “Musica Totale." Strumentisti di differenti nazioni si confrontano in un dialogo che congiunge le dimensioni del tempo e dello spazio: passato e presente, Est/Ovest e Nord/Sud del mondo ...
read moreMichel Benita: "sono proprio un figlio degli anni '60/'70"
by Paolo Peviani
All About Jazz: Dopo due album come sideman, al fianco di Andy Sheppard, il tuo primo album da leader con l'ECM. Com'è andata? Michel Benita: La prima registrazione con Andy Sheppard, Trio Libero, mi ha in effetti offerto l'occasione di incontrare Manfred Eicher. La comunicazione con lui è stata subito facile. Aveva già ascoltato il primo disco di Ethics e l'aveva visibilmente apprezzato. Quando ha sentito che stavamo per registrare un nuovo album, mi ha proposto di farlo ...
read moreMichel Benita Ethics: River Silver
by Karl Ackermann
The Algerian born bassist, Michel Benita, has been an active presence on the European jazz scene for three decades. Now Paris-based, he has played with guitarist Marc Ducret, Dino Saluzzi and Archie Shepp among many other well known artists. At the end of the 1990s he cofounded the ELB Trio with French guitarist Nguyên Lê and drummer Peter Erskine. With River Silver, Benita's group, Ethics, brings a global flavor that aligns with his past musical career choices as well as ...
read moreMichel Benita Ethics: River Silver
by John Kelman
It's no secret that music is something that can dissolve borders, transcend cultures, and speak with a language understood by all. That the decreasing size of the world has made it possible for artists from disparate countries to collaborate and create music that is truly greater than the sum of its parts--imbued not just with the qualities that each musician brings from his/her own culture, but from ones beyond their own as well--is also a given in the 21st century. ...
read more
