Luxury Experience - David Benoit

GRAMMY® nominated pianist composer David Benoit has a musical "dialogue" with Jeff Golub, Pat Kelley, David Pack, Tim Weisberg, Robert Theis, David Sills, Yun Tang and more with his latest release, Conversation on the Heads Up International label, a division of Concord Music Group, Inc.

David Benoit - Conversation: Napa Crossroads Overture, Feelin' It, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, Kei's Song Redux, Sunrise On Mansion Row, You're Amazing, Q's Motif, Let's Get Ready, Conversation (From Music For Two Trios)

David Benoit Conversation Personnel: David Benoit - piano, Jeff Golub - electric guitar, Pat Kelley - acoustic guitar, David Pack - guitar, Tim Weisberg - flute, David Hughes- acoustic and electric bass, Jamey Tate- drums, Brad Dutz - percussion, Robert Theis - piano, June Benoit - violin, David Sills - saxophone, Yun Tang - concert master, violin, Michelle Wood - violin, Eleanor Dunbar - violin, Xiang Wang - viola, Ilona Geller - viola, Cathy Biagini - cello

With his latest release, David Benoit - Conversation, David scores large with captivating musical "dialogue" with talented like-minded musicians that cross genres whose motivation is to engage the listener in the manner of an artistic contemporary "salon."

As with his 2010 release, Earthglow (read about it in the Music Scene), David is joined by Tim Weisberg, Pat Kelley, David Hughes, Jamey Tate, and Brad Dutz. He also invited GRAMMY® Award winning guitarist David Pack, June Benoit, David Sills, Robert Theis, Yun Tang, Michelle Wood, Eleanor Dunbar, Xiang Wang, Ilona Geller, and Cathy Biagini to play with him.

Of the album, David comments, "As a writer, I really wanted to dig deep on this and try some things with people who weren't afraid to try them with me. It's actually one of the most fun and relaxed records I've made in at least a couple of years. It was just nice to not have any kind of agenda. The title of the album really sums it up. There's a lot of conversation going on with this record."

The 9-track release gets your attention from the opening track, Napa Crossroads Overture co-written by David Benoit and David Pack, and holds it until the last track, Conversation (From Music For Two Trios). The release flows like an easy conversation between old friends. In between there are some excellent pieces with stellar piano work by David Benoit as well as the talented ensemble.

For the track, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, written by Theodore Shapiro, the only track which David did not write, he gets family involved bringing in his 11-year old daughter June to play violin on the last verse, which also includes Pat Kelley, Jeff Golub, David Hughes, Jamey Tate, and Brad Dutz.

Sunrise on Mansion Row is a masterful piece with its bewitching string section, and You're Amazing is just that - amazing, it is a stellar piece of music that cooks with David seasoning the soup with an excellent interplay of musicians with some especially nice flute work by Tim Weisberg.

He follows that up with the catchy and repetitive rhythm of Q's Motif, before moving on to the second to the last track, Let's Get Ready, featuring David Sills who delivers an excellent saxophone solo in the 12-bar blues section.

Conversation (From Music For Two Trios) features Robert Theis, who won the International Prokofiev Piano Competition in 1995, in a jazz and classical piano combination that is so delicious you feel like an interloper listening to the dialogue. The track opens with Theis playing classical piano, answered by Benoit with fast fingering jazz piano, to which Theis classically responds. It is a beautiful piece that deftly and creatively blends the musical styles of classical and jazz, flowing easily between the classical trio comprised of Robert Theis, Yun Tang on violin, and Cathy Biagini on cello, and the electric jazz trio of David Benoit playing a Fender Rhodes and an electric piano, David Hughes on Fender electric bass, and Jamey Tate on drums, and closes the release memorably with one last note on the piano.

Of this song, David comments, "It's the first time that I didn't play all the piano parts on my own record. It's a conversation between classical and jazz, between a melodic pianist like Robert and a blazing guitarist like Jeff Golub. That's really what this song and the entire record are about - conversation between musicians coming from different realms and finding common ground."

David Benoit - Conversation has all the elements that make a great release, and is one that you will want to listen to with friends, again and again, and start your own conversations.