Benjamín Brea (18 September 1946 – 23 April 2014) was a Spanish-born Venezuelan musician, arranger and teacher, mostly associated with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, even though he had the advantage to play several music genres in various bands as a soloist as well as

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo o ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Career

Born Benjamín Arsenio Brea Constenla in

Galicia, Spain Galicia ( ; or ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain and nationalities and regions of Spain, historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces o ...

, he moved with his parents to Venezuela in the early 1960s. He received formal music training in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

and graduated under

Vicente Emilio Sojo Vicente Emilio Sojo (December 8, 1887 – August 11, 1974) was a Venezuelan musicologist, educator and composer, born in Guatire, Miranda (state), Miranda. Biography Vicente Emilio Sojo was born to a musical family. Most notable was the fact ...

in the

José Ángel Lamas José Ángel Lamas (August 2, 1775 – December 10, 1814) was a Venezuelan classical musician and composer born in Caracas. He was the main representative of the classical period in colonial Venezuela. Author of the immortal sacred piece, ''Pop ...

school of music. Brea started his professional career in 1962, playing saxophone, flute, oboe, clarinet, and bass clarinet. After playing with local dance bands, he remained and performed on

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

s and

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s. In addition, he became a member of the Radio Caracas Television orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Caracas conducted by Aldemaro Romero. He worked with

Jeff Berlin Jeffrey Arthur Berlin (born January 17, 1953) is an American jazz rock bassist and composer. He first came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the band Bruford, led by drummer Bill Bruford. Musical career Berlin was born on January 17, 195 ...

Paquito D'Rivera Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras (born 4 June 1948), known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established him ...

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top List of best-selling music artists, reco ...

Armando Manzanero Armando Manzanero Canché (7 December 1934 – 28 December 2020) was a Mexican musician, singer, composer, actor and music producer, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful comp ...

Danilo Pérez Danilo Pérez (born December 29, 1966) is a Panamanian pianist, composer, educator, and a social activist. His music is a blend of Panamanian roots with elements of Latin American folk music, jazz, European impressionism, African, and other mu ...

Arturo Sandoval Arturo Sandoval (born November 6, 1949) is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, timbalero, and composer. While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 ...

, The Jackson Five and

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

, while playing in jazz big band formats led by Porfi Jiménez, Alberto Naranjo and Gerry Weil. In between, he performed with

Soledad Bravo Soledad Bravo (born January 1, 1943) is a Venezuelan singer. Born in Logroño, La Rioja, Spain, her father was a Spanish republican, moving to Venezuela with his family when his daughter was still at an early age. At 24, Soledad began studying ...

, Vytas Brenner, Maria Teresa Chacin, Ilan Chester,

Franco de Vita Franco Atilio De Vita De Vito (born January 23, 1954, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. His first album as a solo artist garnered three Spanish-language hits in Venezuela. He signed with the ...

Simón Díaz Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez (August 8, 1928 – February 19, 2014), also known as tío Simón, was a Venezuelan singer, actor, TV host, comedian, and Grammy Award-winning composer of Music of Venezuela, Venezuelan music. Some of his most popula ...

Gualberto Ibarreto Gualberto José Ibarreto Barrios (born July 12, 1947 in El Pilar, Sucre state, Venezuela), is a folk singer who plays the mandolin, cuatro, and guitar. He has released 24 studio records. See also * Venezuelan music Several styles of the t ...

, Los Cañoneros,

Ricardo Montaner Héctor Eduardo Reglero Montaner (born 8 September 1957), better known as Ricardo Montaner (), is an Argentine-born Venezuelan singer. Since starting his career in the late 1970s, he has released more than 24 albums, and many successful singles ...

Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Rosell (31 October 1941–16 February 1985) known artistically as Alí Primera, was a Venezuelan musician, composer, poet, and political activist. He was born in Coro, Falcón State, Venezuela and died in Caracas. He was o ...

, María Rivas,

Serenata Guayanesa Serenata Guayanesa is a vocal and instrumental quartet that plays typical Music of Venezuela, Venezuelan folk music. It is one of the two best known groups that play this style of music (the other being Un Solo Pueblo). The 18th of November of 2 ...

and Cecilia Todd. Despite working as a sideman in recording sessions, Brea released only three albums. His first solo album, ''Another Point of View'', was released in 1995 and consists of

jazz standards Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

. It includes ''

Moonlight Serenade "Moonlight Serenade" is an American swing ballad composed by Glenn Miller with subsequent lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was an immediate phenomenon when released in May 1939 as an instrumental arrangement, though it had been adopted and perfo ...

'' and '' Summertime'' as well as a version of the Andean classic ''

El Cóndor Pasa EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a List of Shugo Chara! characters#El, character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (Stranger Things), Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fiction ...

''. His second album, ''Un Viejo Amor'', is a more romantic offering and less jazzy, while ''Christmas Saxes'' was a production made by him alone, recording the soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone tracks in

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

with the aid of engineer Javier Alquati. This last album is a compilation of traditional Christmas songs from Venezuela and beyond. He organized a jazz band and was a staff member at the ''El Hatillo Jazz Festival'', which is an annual event celebrated in the small town of El Hatillo Town, Venezuela. In January 2014, Brea fainted while attending a rehearsal and was moved to a hospital in Caracas, where he was diagnosed with

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

. He died on 23 April 2014, at the age of 67.Notice of death of Brea
eluniversal.com, 24 April 2014; accessed 25 April 2014.

Discography

*1995 ''Another Point of View'' *1997 ''Un Viejo Amor'' *1999 ''Christmas Saxes'' *2000 ''Siempre Seremos Niños''

References

External links

Reflexiones del Jazz en Venezuela por Benjamin Brea
(Spanish)

(Spanish)

(Spanish)

(Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brea, Benjamin 1946 births 2014 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer in Venezuela Spanish emigrants to Venezuela Jazz clarinetists Jazz oboists Jazz saxophonists Venezuelan jazz flautists Venezuelan multi-instrumentalists 20th-century saxophonists 20th-century flautists