The Benevento/Russo Duo (or The Duo for short) is an alternative jazz/

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from New York City, featuring

Marco Benevento Marco Benevento (born July 22, 1977) is an American pianist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who has been a fixture of the New York experimental music rock and jazz scene since 1999. He is the founder and recording e ...

on keyboard instruments and Joe Russo on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

History

Benevento and Russo met while in junior high school in New Jersey. The Duo began in 2001 when Russo secured a weekly gig at New York's

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States. The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...

music club, and asked Benevento to join him on the Hammond B3 organ. By 2003 the band had self-released two albums, ''Debut Album'' (sometimes referred to as ''Benevento/Russo Duo'') and ''Darts''. In 2005, '' Best Reason to Buy the Sun'' was released on

Ropeadope Records Ropeadope Records is an American record label known for recordings in a variety of genres including jazz, hip hop, gospel, and electronic music. The label, now led by Louis Marks, was founded in 1999 by Andy HurwitzAndy Hurwitz"Ropeadope carves i ...

to critical acclaim. '' Play Pause Stop'' was released on July 11, 2006. The Duo was the winner of New Groove of the Year in 2005, at the 5th Annual

Jammys The Jammy Award (also known as the Jammys) is an awards show for bands typically referred to as jam bands and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro (concert promoter), Peter Shapiro. ...

. Joe Russo has previously won the New Groove of the Year award in 2000, as a member of Fat Mama. The band's unique style blends elements of rock, punk, acid jazz, and fusion. This distinctive sound is the product of a gradual evolution that began with the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

-driven jazz improvisation of their Knitting Factory days. Their music is powerful and danceable;

overdriven Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain (electronics), gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distort ...

keyboard riffs (often looped on an electronic sampler), outlandish noise effects and forceful, technical drumming are all characteristic of the Duo's musical style. They have been a staple in the jam band scene since 2003 and have appeared multiple times at popular music festivals such as Bonnaroo,

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

, and

Wakarusa Wakarusa can refer to several things in the United States: * Wakarusa, Indiana * Wakarusa, Kansas * The Wakarusa River, a tributary of the Kansas River * The Wakarusa War, part of the Bleeding Kansas violence before the American Civil War * Wakarus ...

. Improvisation plays an important role in the Duo's live performances, but their focus is on tight rock arrangements. Like many acts associated with the jam band scene, the Duo has a small but dedicated fan base. Their association with Mike Gordon of

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

, who has become something of an unofficial third member of the group (not merely joining as a guest on some songs, but playing as their bassist for whole tours), has raised The Duo's visibility in the jam band scene.

RANA Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a histori ...

guitarist Scott Metzger has been another frequent guest at The Duo shows, as well as guitarist Brad Barr of The Slip, and Seattle, Washington-based saxophonist Skerik. Metzger and Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz have been known to join The Duo for sets of Led Zeppelin covers, performing under the name Bustle in Your Hedgerow, a line from the Led Zeppelin classic

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...

. Russo and Benevento (along with Metzger, Dreiwitz, and Tom Hamilton) are members of

Joe Russo's Almost Dead Joe Russo's Almost Dead is an American rock band formed in 2013 that mainly covers the music of the Grateful Dead. Formed by Furthur and Benevento/Russo Duo drummer Joe Russo, the band played their first show on January 26, 2013 at the Broo ...

, a

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

tribute band led by Joe Russo. In mid-2006 Trey Anastasio of Phish announced that he and Mike Gordon would join forces with the Duo for a nationwide tour. This announcement followed the success the four musicians had found while in the studio together recording and writing songs for Anastasio's album ''

Bar 17 ''Bar 17'' is Trey Anastasio's fifth solo studio album. It was the first release from his newly formed record label, Rubber Jungle Records. Work began on ''Bar 17'' shortly after the breakup of Phish, but had to temporarily suspend the project d ...

''. The tour began with GRAB (Gordon, Russo, Anastasio, Benevento) co-headlining a ten-date run with Phil Lesh and Friends. The tour kicked off with the "Superjam" at the 2006 Bonnaroo festival which saw Lesh joining GRAB for "Casey Jones" and other Grateful Dead numbers. GRAB went on to play seven headlining dates without Phil and Friends, and close out the tour with a performance at the

10,000 Lakes Festival The 10,000 Lakes Festival (abbreviated as 10KLF) was an annual four-day music festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, at the Soo Pass Ranch that was held from 2003 until 2009 before going on indefinite hiatus due to financial losses and has not bee ...

in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. The Duo can be heard in the

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

episode Grand Murder at Central Station which aired on October 5, 2005. On April 28, 2016, Joe Russo announced via Instagram that The Duo would be performing at JamCruise 2017.

Band members

The Duo

– organ, keyboards * Joe Russo – drums, percussion, guitar

Occasional band members

* Scott Metzger – guitar * Mike Gordon – bass * Trey Anastasio – guitar *

Brad Barr Brad Barr (born July 27, 1975) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with The Slip, The Barr Brothers and Surprise Me Mr. Davis. In 2007, Barr collaborated with Jade McNelis on her album ''All the Fables'' ...

– guitar

Discography

*'' My Jackhammer'' – 2003 *'' Darts'' – 2003 *'' Best Reason to Buy the Sun'' – 2005 *'' Live from Bonnaroo 2005'' – 2005 (with Mike Gordon from

) *'' Play Pause Stop'' – 2006 *''

Split Sides, Volume 1 Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertain ...

'' (EP) – 2006 (with Tom Hamilton's American Babies)

References

"Meet the Benevento Russo Duo", Mike Greenhaus, Relix.com, February 6, 2007
Retrieved July 28, 2007 *"The Duo Seeks Out the 'Great Accident'", Bret Gladstone, AP Worldstream, December 30, 2005

External links

Benevento/Russo Duo
official website
Benevento/Russo Duo
fan community
Benevento/Russo collection
at the Internet Archive's live music archive
"The Straight Tonic with Marco Benevento"
interview with Marco Benevento on JamBase.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Benevento Russo Duo Musical groups from New York (state) Jammy Award winners Jam bands American musical duos