Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Béla Fleck & The Flecktones (top) and Chick Corea’s Elektric Band will join forces for a multi-city tour from Aug. 5–21, 2017.
(Photo: Courtesy Kurland Agency)DownBeat Critics Poll Award winners Béla Fleck and Chick Corea proved a dynamic pairing on two albums released in the past decade, The Enchantment (2007, Concord) and Two (2015, Concord). Now, the two will join forces for a North American tour with their respective groups—The Flecktones and Elektric Band—from Aug. 5–21, 2017.
The shows will feature the original lineups of both bands.
Béla Fleck & The Flecktones have been performing and recording as a unit for more than three decades, winning six Grammy Awards in the process. For the 2017 tour, Fleck has reunited the original lineup of his band—Victor Wooten (bass), Roy Wooten/aka Future Man (drumitar) and Howard Levy (harmonica and keyboard). UFO Tofu (Warner Bros.), released in 1992, was the last album recorded by this lineup.
The Chick Corea Elektric Band, formed in 1986, has for decades experimented with musical forms and genres. With Corea on keyboards and electronics, the Elektric Band has delivered seven albums to date, the last of which, To The Stars, was released in 2004 on Stretch Records. The entire classic quintet will be on stage: John Patitucci (bass), Frank Gambale (guitar), Eric Marienthal (saxophone) and Dave Weckl (drums).
Benjamin possessed a fluid, round sound on the alto saxophone, and he was often most recognizable by the layers of electronic effects that he put onto the instrument.
Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
“He’s constructing intelligent musical sentences that connect seamlessly, which is the most important part of linear playing,” Charles McPherson said of alto saxophonist Sonny Red.
Feb 27, 2024 1:40 PM
“I might not have felt this way 30 to 40 years ago, but I’ve reached a point where I can hear value in what people…
Albert “Tootie” Heath (1935–2024) followed in the tradition of drummer Kenny Clarke, his idol.
Apr 5, 2024 10:28 AM
Albert “Tootie” Heath, a drummer of impeccable taste and time who was the youngest of three jazz-legend brothers…
“Both of us are quite grounded in the craft, the tradition and the harmonic sense,” Rosenwinkel said of his experience playing with Allen. “Yet I felt we shared something mystical as well.”
Mar 12, 2024 11:42 AM
“There are a few musicians you hear where, as somebody once said, the molecules in the room change. Geri was one of…
Henry Threadgill performs with Zooid at Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Apr 9, 2024 11:30 AM
Big Ears, the annual four-day music celebration that first took place in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee, could well be…
