NEWS Hello- thanks for stopping by Bennett Paster.com. Winter 2007/8 and Spring 2008 have continued to be a busy and creative time for me. I returned to Italy with KJ Denhert to record a live CD at Umbria Jazz, performed as a finalist in the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition and worked feverishly recording and producing from my studio here in Brooklyn, NY. Below I recount a few highlights past and share some news about upcoming gigs, recordings and projects. Grupo Yanqui Rides Again!   Gregory Ryan and I are proud to present present Grupo Yanqui Rides Again, the long-awaited sophmore CD from our Latin/world/jazz sextet.  The band’s repertoire skillfully balances our Afro-Cuban-, Brazilian-, and American-influenced compositions, with Latin-tinged arrangements of standard gems.  Grupo Yanqui defies simple classification – it's Latin jazz; it's world groove; it's energetic music that forges the strengths of diverse individuals into an exciting, distinctly New York sound. Along with me on acoustic piano and Gregory Ryan on electric and acoustic basses, this recording features Chris Cheek, tenor and alto saxophone; Alex Norris, trumpet; Keith Hall drums; and Gilad, percussion. This exciting recording, released by Miles High Records , was released in stores on May 20th.  It's also available at iTunes Store, amazon.com and many other other e-tailers.  Ann Braithwaite at Braithwaite & Katz will be doing international publicity for the disc and Mark Elf / Jen Bay Records will promote it to over 300 radio and satellite radio worldwide! KJ Denhert Band: New Years in Italy New Live CD Recorded! KJ and Mamadou Ba deep in the groove... Ah yes- back to sceinc Italia for New Years eve and 5 amazing days at Umbria Jazz Winter #15.  This was my third, and KJ Denhert's 4th trip to Italy in 2 years to play one of the premier jazz festivals in all of Europe: Umbria Jazz.  We played 9 shows in 5 days in the intimate, medieval town of Orvieto, home of one of the most beautiful and famous cathedrals in all of Italy.  The festival was amazing, featuring Joe Lovano, Dr. Lonnie Smith, John & Gerald Clayton and many others.  We recorded several shows from which KJ cherry-picked her favorite songs.  Ben Wisch, who also recorded and mixed KJ's last studio CD (which I co-produced with her) did the mixes.  I've heard the mixes and the music is amazing!  It will feature KJ, me, John Cabán, Mamadou Ba, Ray Levier, Aaron Heick and Kevin Jones. Look for a winter 2008 release on Motema Music. KJ and the band will be touring Northern and Southern California in early June- check my Gigs page for more details.  And, we'll be back in Perugia, Italy for another great summer Umbria Jazz festival this July.  Plus, we're playing JVC jazz in NYC in June and handful of other East Coast festivals throughout the summer.  You know where to look for details... Current Recording and Production Winter '07/'08 and Spring '08 have been rockin' (and swingin' too) at my studio, Benny's Wash n' Dry, here in scenic Brooklyn.  I recently completed several long-term projects and several others are ongoing. KJ Denhert and I co-produced much of her latest studio CD Lucky 7, now out on Motema Music .  It's an eclectic collection of songs that reflect KJ's diverse inspirations; it's a stew of funk, blues, jazz and rock with the spirit of a true singer-songwriter.  In addition to KJ on vocals and guitar and me on piano and keys, the disc features many of KJ's regular rotating cast band members and some special guests- Mamadou Ba, Ray Levier, Etienne Stadwijk, Peter Vitalone, Richard Hammond, Tony Mason, Steve Hass, Richard Bona, Manolo Badrena, Why Not Jansveld, Thierry Arpino and more... I arranged and co-produced and performed on jazz singer Andy Suvalsky's sophmore recording.  It's a straight-down-the-middle (and I mean that in a good way...) acoustic jazz project.  Accompanying Andy's sweet, dynamic vocal stylings are my regular piano trio Paster, Ryan & Hall along with special guests guitarist Peter Bernstein and saxophonist/flutist Steve Wilson.  Andy hopes to release this disc in Fall 2008. Singer/Songwriter/Pianist Ruth Levy has also been spending a lot of time over at the Wash n' Dry.  I am producing and arranging songs for her, the first of which, "Yaffa Sheli" has lyrics in hebrew!  Ruth's piano approach blends elements of classical music with a classic 70's pop sound (think Carole King).  To this we added drums by Yuval Lion (from Organic!) and 'cello by Jodi Redhage.  The results are track that is powerful and devastating.  Newer tracks have featured Hagar ben Ari on bass, Trevor Holder on drums and John Cabán on guitar.  We should have a nice collection of songs ready for release by this fall.  Trevor Holder just started a jazz/funk recording at the W&D too, which features me on piano and keys as well as behind the desk (well, it's a DAW, if not a desk). Lately some of my favorite producer colleagues have been sending me tracks digitally, for me to add my keyboard flavor to.  I do my parts and upload them to their servers, then if necessary I re-record, edit and tweak the tracks until they and the artists are happy.  It's a great way to work because I always have my entire arsenal of acoustic, electro-acoustic and electronic instruments, effects, amps and plug-ins to work with. Steve Walsh sent a track by Libby Weaver featuring a rhythm section of Victor Krauss and Matt Chamberlin.  (I wish I could've been at that session live!)  And Ken Rich invited me to play on records he's producing for Frank Ippolito and Rene Lopez.  I also just recorded a group of strange and wonderful songs with fellow expat New Mexican Anna Egge. Issa Cabrera and Nano Valerio produced an amazing world-jazz EP here in December and Jill Anna Ponisik recorded her 2007 holiday record here that same month.  Also in December, Shingo Okudaira recorded an super-swingin' organ-trio session with Sheryl Bailey Brian Charette. And who could forget Ritt Henn?  We recently completed work on a collection of songs that blend his wry sense of humor as a lyricist with his gift for melody and groove. Along with me on piano and brother Jay Frederick on drums, Ritt plays a fat quarter note on bass and sings his ass off...  He one of the funniest dudes on the planet too- check out his youtube channel, ManBassBox TV. In addition to the new Grupo Yanqui CD (see above), Gregory Ryan and I have recorded a set of original music with long-time Spyro Gyra drummer Joel Rosenblatt, guitarist Vinny Valentino and percussionist Gilad. Greg is playing electric bass and I'm rocking the Fender Rhodes and Minimoog. This "dream rhythm section" explores original funk, jazz and Latin compositions in a setting that blends trusted musical connections with the freshness of new relationships. Saxophonist Chris Cheek also appears on a few tracks and contributes a composition to the date.  We recorded at Joel's studio Cliffside Sound, in Yonkers, NY (with additional keyboards here at the Wash n Dry).  Long-time collaborator Larry Phillabaum mixed the record and SonyBMG Music's Mark Wilder mastered it.  Look for a limited, perhaps web-only, release sometime in 2008. In addition to this production and engineering work, I have contributed keyboard tracks to recordings for many diverse artists including Joe Clausell, John Cruz, Teddy Goldstein, Amy Lennard, Laura Berman, Greg Tannen, the National, Adam Falcon, Ed Littman.  Visit my Credits page for more info about these (and other) projects.   2007 Great American Jazz Piano Competition In April, 2008 I traveled to Jacksonville Florida to compete as a finalist in the 2008 Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition. I performed in front of a supportive audience of almost 1000 people, playing several songs with house rhythm section that included drummer Danny Gottleib and bassist Dennis Marks. It was a fun weekend of playing music and meeting other musicians from around the country. When the music was over and the judges cast their votes, I was proud to have won 3rd place.  This was my 5th straight year as a finalist in this competition. New Discs! Paster, Ryan and Hall: Invisible Horizon and Organic! Sweets I’ve been hard at work on three new recordings. In May 2006, Gregory Ryan and Keith Hall and I returned to the studio, building on the success of our February ’06 Grupo Yanqui tour. In four busy days, we recorded two different projects: a Paster, Ryan & Hall trio album and the long-awaited second recording by Grupo Yanqui.  Paster, Ryan & Hall's second disc as a trio, Invisible Horizon, features more insightful original compositions and thoughtful arrangements of several standards- the “Good Feeling” is definitely still in!  Buy the CD or high-quality mp3s at CDBaby, iTunes, or listen to it here . Organic! spent a week just before Thanksgiving 2005 tracking some new funky psychedelic-soul improvisations and compositions. Guitarist and co-leader John Cabán and I subsequently “massaged” the tracks and, adding only minimal overdubs, molded them into new sound sculptures. Several of the long improvisations naturally flow from idea to idea, resulting in a connected suite of musical ideas, thus inspiring the name of the CD: Sweets. The recording captures the spirit of our live performances. This is our first release with our new drummer, Israeli sensation Yuval Lion.  The disc (and high-quality mp3s) are available now from CDBaby , iTunes and many other online retailers. Summer 2007 Roundup KJ Denhert: Umbria Jazz and New CD Gifted Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist KJ Denhert returned to Perugia, Italy to perform a residency at the Umbria Jazz Festival. For 10 straight days we performed two sets at the festival’s outdoor stage, often for crowds exceeding 500 people. The setting, Perugia, is an ancient town, perched atop a hill overlooking the scenic Umbrian countryside. The festival was among the most amazing scenes I’ve ever been privileged to be a part of: non-stop music all day and night, thousands of people wandering the historic, medieval streets and, of course, incredible eating and drinking. Ah, Italy!   We'll be returning to Italy to play in Orvieto, home of Umbria Jazz's Winter Festival, from December 28, 2007 till January 1st 2008.  Wouldn't you like to come to Italy for New Year's eve?  See you there! KJ Denhert, Ray Levier, Mamadou Ba and Bennett Paster @ Umbria Jazz 2007 I co-produced some tracks on KJ's newest CD Lucky Seven , which has just been officially released by her new label Motema Music.  Her lyrics are substantive and personal, the band's grooves are funky, jazzy and grooving and the fidelity (the disc was recorded and mixed by Ben Wisch) is tremendous.  Do check her out! Stanford Jazz Workshop This August marked my 22nd trip returning to the San Francisco Bay Area to teach and perform at the Stanford Jazz Workshop (SJW) at Stanford University.  This amazing jazz camp for kids and adult residency for college students and adults is always an inspiring gathering of musicians, both professional and amateur, who come together to improve our skills, network and further America's native music: Jazz.  At this summer's SJW I performed a concert with legendary LA-based blues singer Barbara Morrison.  I've never heard a singer who's scatting conjured the spirit and sound of Ella Fitzgerald as much as Barbara's did...  We had a wonderful evening playing blues, jazz and standards for almost 400 people. Gregory Ryan and I, (who met over 10 years ago at the SJW), played a show of our original funk/groove music with drum royalty Ndugu Chancler, long-time Grupo Yanqui member Yosvany Terry and saxaphonist/flutist Melecio Magdaluyo. Besides the aforementioned musicians, this year's SJW faculty featured an amazing all-star lineup.  I was privileged to teach (and sometimes get to play) with jazz greats: Jimmy Cobb, Kenny Barron, Eddie Gomez, Matt Wilson, Frank Wess, Terrell Stafford, Wycliffe Gordon, Yosvany Terry, Ambrose Akinmusere and many more... Beautiful Belgrade In October, 2006 Gregory Ryan and I returned to scenic Belgrade, Serbia to teach a jazz workshop to students at the Belgrade Faculty of Music (the local Conservatory).  We had been in Belgrade in February of 2006 with Grupo Yanqui as part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center / US State Dept.'s "The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad" program.  This return trip was an extension of that program.  We were fortunate to have an eager crop of extremely talented students who volunteered to take our 10-day series of classes in addition to their already-rigorous curriculum.  All of our students were classically trained, but few had ever studied jazz, as their conservatory was just in the process of starting a jazz department.  Our program focused on the fundamentals of jazz improvisation and phrasing and helped the students begin to develop a performance repertoire and a listening library.  The US State Dept. gave us a grant to bring educational materials to the school's listening-library, so we hand-selected 20 "essential listening" jazz CDs and wrote an introduction explaining why we had selected each disc, why the artist was so important to jazz as well as suggestions for future listening.  Hopefully we'll help inspire the next generation of Serbian jazz greats. A small sub-group of our students were already quite accomplished at jazz before our arrival.  We learned a lot from their original music which combined elements of jazz with traditional Serbian (and other Eastern European) styles.  Two of these students, Dimi and Branco have come to the US to study at the Berkely College of Music.  I imagine it's just a matter of time till they come to NYC and start taking our gigs...  Summer 2006: Touring and Teaching In June 2006, my piano trio performed my original music for more than 500 people as part of the New Mexico Jazz Workshop’s Summer Jazz Under the Stars series at the Albuquerque Museum and we played a swinging gig at a club in Santa Fe. This is the second straight year that I’ve been able to play in my home state; our following is growing and CD sales were brisk. Sheryl Bailey, Sue Hadjopolous, KJ Denhert, Ray Levier, Mamadou Ba and me Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist KJ Denhert and I have been acquainted for almost ten years. Though we share mutual friends and even appear on the BAG1 Compilation CD together, until July we had never gotten to perform together. KJ invited me to join her band for a residency in Perugia, Italy at the Umbria Jazz Festival. For 10 straight days we performed two sets at the festival’s outdoor stage, often for crowds exceeding 500 people. The setting, Perugia, is an ancient town, perched atop a hill overlooking the scenic Umbrian countryside. The festival was among the most amazing scenes I’ve ever been privileged to be a part of: non-stop music all day and night, thousands of people wandering the historic, medieval streets and, of course, incredible eating and drinking. Ah, Italy! KJ and I are co-producing several tracks on her forthcoming CD, which should be available by the 2006 Winter holidays. Hammond organ royalty Dr. Lonnie Smith and I enjoying some tasty Italian watermelon! In August, I returned for my 21st summer of teaching and performing at the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. Highlights of this summer included a Paster, Ryan and Hall trio perfomance as part of the Stanford Jazz Festival, teaching and playing with jazz royalty, brothers Jimmy and Tootie Heath and rne leading a casual lunchtime concert that featured drummer Bill Stewart, bassist Rodney Whittaker, guitarist Peter Bernstein and trumpeter Brian Lynch. Plus, working with the up-and-coming jazz students at the workshop always inspires and refreshes my creativity. Albert "Tootie" Heath, me and Jimmy Heath Me, Peter Bernstein, Rodney Whittaker, Bill Stewart, Brian Lynch Click here for Winter 2006 News page archive.