Press News Reviews
'Jazz Kaleidoscope' among CD Baby's
Top Selling Avant Garde Recordings
Pick of the Week- Avant Music News, Pick of the Week, New Music re-BlogTime Out Chicago- Jimmy Bennington's Colour and Sound at Uncommon Ground on Devon, Thursday October 30,2008.Centerstage Chicago- Morseland SundaysJazz a Paris- Jimmy Bennington concerts in FranceJazz a Paris- Jimmy Bennington/ Benjamin Duboc/ Itaru Oki/ Didier Haboyan
Sunday September 21, 2008 at L' Atelier Tampon- Ramier galerie et cave
Julian Priester/ Jimmy Bennington 'Art of the Solo' Jazz and Heritage Stage
Jimmy Bennington to record for New York's famed CIMP Label- February 2008
special guests Perry Robinson/ Ed Schuller
AllAboutJazz- New York Best Recordings of 2007- Honorable Mention: Jimmy Bennington/Julian Priester "Portraits and Silhouettes" ThatSwan!1005
Roarty and Godston + Jimmy Bennington's Colour and Sound
Monday June 9, 9pm at Brown Rice- Time Out Chicago
*Jazz Kaleidoscope; Solo Drums ThatSwan! 1004
All About Jazz New York (Mathew Miller/ May 2008)
Jimmy Bennington Trio at the Jazz Zone in Lima, Peru
Jimmy Bennington to play two nights at the famed Jazz Zone in Lima, Peru, located
in beautiful Mira Flores. This longstanding club has played host to a wealth of local
and international talent and proudly presents the Jimmy Bennington Trio,
Friday and Saturday April 11th and 12th. Shows start at 8pm.
Jimmy Bennington Trío
El Jimmy Bennington Trío ofrecerá dos
conciertos imperdibles en el clásico local miraflorino del Jazz Zone,
el templo de los amantes de ese género en la ciudad.
LUGAR: JAZZ ZONE, AV. LA PAZ 646, PASAJE EL SUCHE, MIRAFLORES V DÍA Y HORA: VIERNES Y SÁBADO, 8 P.M. V ENTRADA: 20 Soles.
Drummer/ Bandleader Jimmy Bennington Feb. 13/20 at the legendary
Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge in Chicago.
Jimmy Bennington's Colour and Sound Wednesday, February 13/ 20
with pianist Ben Boye and bassist Brian Sandstrom.
The program features Bennington's arrangements, as well as standards, originals,
and improvised compositions. For nearly twenty years, Jimmy Bennington has provided and
developed an inimitable musical atmosphere that showcases his guests creative talents and
places the drum in the role of timekeeper, colorist, and conductor. Always in keeping with
the tradition of Jazz, he employs strong elements of the blues, folk, and world music to
explore, propel, cajole, and inspire both musicians and audiences alike.
"Jazz music that treats the drum as an instrument equal to the piano, and
experiments with the below the skin deep beauty that music has always
had, but which few artists have been daring enough to delve into."
(Ben Ohmart, The Muses Muse, 2004)
"...solid, exploratory Jazz." (Cadence, 1998)
Bennington to record for CIMP February 2008
special guests Perry Robinson/ Ed Schuller
All About Jazz New York- Best Recordings of 2007- Honorable Mention: Jimmy Bennington/Julian Priester "Portraits and Silhouettes" ThatSwan! 1005
WNUR in Evanston IL- Pick of the Week 11/ 2007
Jimmy Bennington/Julian Priester
“Portraits
and Silhouettes” (ThatSwan! 1005)
Julian
Priester (tb), Jimmy Bennington (perc)
To say that
veteran trombone player Julian Priester’s career has covered a wide spectrum of
the musical world would be a great understatement. Priester, now 72, began has career as a New
York R&B player, and soon thereafter joined up with Sun Ra and his gang for
a series of recordings in the mid-late 50’s, and also played behind Dinah
Washington a handful of times on vinyl during the same period. Priester went on to collaborate with a
whirlwind of artists; playing with straight-aheads like Max Roach, Freddie
Hubbard, and Duke Ellington and more “out” players, including Eric Dolphy,
Booker Little, Sam Rivers, Andrew Hill, and on Euphonium with John Coltrane on
several early 1960’s albums. Later on,
Priester became somewhat of a regular with Herbie Hancock during the 70’s, and
later rejoined the Sun Ra as well as began frequent collaboration with Dave
Holland in the 80’s. Despite this
laundry list of greats, Priester has had little opportunity to lead a date,
claiming only a handful of releases to his name. On this release, Priester, known for a more
fiery style, explores his quieter side with a considerably more youthful
then Seattle-based Jimmy Bennington on percussion.
The relaxed duo performance has almost a chamber-music-like quality to
it, heavily incorporating spacious improvisation.
- Mike Szajewski, WNUR Jazz
Perry Robinson
By the time Perry Robinson started playing professionally, in the 1950s, modern jazzers had forsaken the clarinet in favor of the saxophone. But there's never been anything fusty about his playing. On everything from his early recordings with 60s free-jazz warriors like Henry Grimes, Charlie Haden, and Archie Shepp to The Soul in the Mist (Ictus), culled from two dates with percussionist Andrea Centazzo and pianist Nobu Stowe late last year, Robinson revels in the instrument's versatility. He switches effortlessly from playing patient, wistful melodies over a swinging pulse to drawing fleet, frantic figures in the midst of a free fall. Robinson hasn't played Chicago since the mid-70s,when he came here with Two Generations of Brubeck; tonight he leads a trio with local drummer Jimmy Bennington, and tomorrow he joins Bennington's Colour and Sound band for shows at the Morseland at 8pm and later at the Hungry Brain 10pm.
—Bill Meyer, Chicago Reader, Sept. 29, 2007
Perry Robinson Press Release
Legendary clarinetist Perry Robinson comes to Chicago for four very rare performances.
Perry Robinson (b. 1938), clarinetist/composer, is an internationally recognized musician who has played and recorded with many Jazz Greats including Henry Grimes, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Paul Motian, Dave Brubeck, Andrew Cyrille, Burton Greene, William Parker, and many others. Perry is one of the innovators of the Modern Jazz and Free Jazz Movements that began in the 1960's. Robinson's growth and development as a composer and clarinetist has continued from then to now in a remarkable career spanning sixty years. Historic recordings include Perry Robinson, Funk Dumpling (Savoy Records), Archie Shepp, Mama Too Tight (Impulse Records), and Henry Grimes, The Call (ESP Records). Robinson's biography, The Traveler, was published in 2002. Mr. Robinson's last visit to Chicago was over thirty years ago when he came with Two Generations of Brubeck.
JULIAN PRIESTER PRESS RELEASE
Legendary Jazz Great Julian Priester comes to Chicago!
The trombonist/composer has played and recorded with a who's who of Jazz Artists including Lionel Hampton, Dinah Washington, Philly Joe Jones, and Herbie Hancock. From his early days in Chicago with Sun Ra and His Arkestra to Duke Ellington, from Max Roach to Muddy Waters. Priester's last appearance was over 25 years ago when he played with saxophonist Johnny Griffin.
For this special visit, Chicago's famed Velvet Lounge will present The Julian Priester Trio for two nights, Thursday/Friday July 5th and 6th, 9pm-midnight. He will joined by Chicago drummer Jimmy Bennington and bassist Eric Warren of Kansas City. Performing original and improvised music, expect explorations in pure sound as well as a selection or two from the great American jazz canon.
Born June 29, 1935 in Chicago, Julian attended DuSable High School along with Richard Davis, Gene Ammons, Benny Green, Charles Davis, and a host of others. His early Chicago career included extensive work with Sun Ra, sitting in with the Blues bands of the day, and collaborating with artists like Muhal Richard Abrams of the AACM. Officially settling in New York in 1958, his first recording as a leader, "Keep Swingin" was released in 1960 on Riverside Records and featured all stars Tommy Flanagan, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Heath, and Sam Jones. A highly sought out artist in the music community, Julian performs internationally and is currently a professor at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. For this occasion, a new recording will be introduced, "Jimmy Bennington/Julian Priester- Portraits and Silhouettes" (ThatSwan! 1005).
Come be a part of this historic and welcome return of a true American Master.
Chicago City Search- Ennui Cafe patron review- 2007
On its' mini stage was a jazz trio named Jimmy
Bennington's colour & sound. This trio consisting of guitar,string
bass and drums. They are very fine musicians who play well with taste.
Their rendition of Caravan
knocked my socks off. A Very tasteful mixture of ensemble and solo
flights. I believe they will appear there every Sunday night. Don't
miss them. They are great.
Jimmy Bennington
Few jazz drummers sound so equally at ease swinging on straight ahead tunes, or delivering a feisty, freely improvised solo set. For this parting gig, the Chicago bound Bennington teams with Canadian bassist Paul Blaney and violinist Tom Swafford. Gallery 1412, 8pm.
The Stranger (Seattle, WA) - 'The Score' by Christopher DeLaurenti October 19, 2006.
Music Reviews
*Midnight Choir OA2 Records 22007
Expose (Jon Davis/ 2005)
Cadence (Jason Bivens/ 2006)
*Our Dialogue; Live at the Tugboat, vol. V ThatSwan! 1003
Cadence (Michael Rosenstein, October 2006)
Drummer Jimmy Bennington and pianist David Haney mix some pieces from the tradition into their duo set, but here, they explore a few pieces by Herbie Nichols along with some originals by the drummer and some collective improvisations. The live set OUR DIALOGUE, Live at the Tugboat, vol. V is the latest in a series of Bennington's sets recorded at the Tugboat Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon. With just piano and drums, the two pare back their improvisations to abstractions propelled along with restless activity. Haney picks up wafts of phrases and bare-bones melodic kernels and toys with them, bouncing off of the extremes of the keyboard. Bennington responds in kind with jittery percussion that responds in fits and starts. The set is carried along by restless energy as the two hint at melodic themes and changes which continue to dissolve into freedom.
*Jazz Kaleidoscope; Solo Drums ThatSwan! 1004
All About Jazz New York (Mathew Miller/ 2008)
*Portraits and Silhouettes ThatSwan! 1005
Cadence (Stuart Kremsky/ April- May- June 2008)
Portraits and Silhouettes is an offering by the percussion and trombone duet of Jimmy Bennington and Julian Priester, produced by Bennington. The results of a single days recording, the duo is joined by bassist Paul Blaney for the albums longest track, Bennington's 'Blount', presumably a tribute to Sun Ra. The opening piece is the title piece, an unhurried dialogue with Bennington moving slowly around his very well-recorded kit and trading phrases with the veteran trombonists jaunty swing. The shorter 'Dust' follows a similar path, a relaxed and spacious conversation among good friends. Most of the tracks are spontaneous inventions, credited to both men. Priester's sole writing contribution to the album is the gorgeous 'Return to Saturn', with a beautiful unaccompanied opening by the trombonist and Bennington using mallets to give it that ceremonial feel of some of Sun Ra's music. Priester skips and jumps 'In Waltz Time' with the drums keeping a basic beat. The pair takes Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo' into some strange places, beginning with Priester's breathy, strangled opening, and stealthily sneaking up on the melody. I don't think I would have seen it coming without looking at the tray card, but it works rather well. By comparison, the trio piece is fairly straight-ahead, with each instruments role a bit more clearly defined. Priester works in his own time, letting notes develop which hang there for a second as Bennington and bassist Blaney dance around him. Blaney also gets a lot of space to explore his aggressively analytical approach. Two brief explosions of 'bone and drums end the musical part of this journey. The final ten minutes is a crudely recorded oral history by Priester, who certainly has had one of the most varied careers in modern music. Here he talks about Sun Ra's method, growing up in a musical atmosphere, and much more, in an indispensable reminiscence by a master musician. An excellent release, well worth searching for by fans of the great trombonist.
All About Jazz New York (Mathew Miller/ 2007)
All About Jazz New York- Honorable Mention- Best Recordings of 2007
*Volumes I II III - David Haney (p)
