Carles Benavent (born 1 March 1954) is a Spanish

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

and

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...

Biography

Benavent was born in the Poble Sec neighborhood in Barcelona. He started playing the bass when he was thirteen years old, attracted by blues and rock,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

in particular. A totally self-taught jazz bassist, he founded the group, "Música Urbana" with which he recorded two albums. He came to create a new form of playing the electric bass "Flamenco style", using the pick to create a special type of alzapúa (style of plucking the strings with the finger and pick). His preferred instrument is the fretless bass, which was pretty uncommon at the time, so he can be considered one of the fretless bass pioneers in Flamenco music. One of the hallmark pieces that first showcased his unique playing was his duet with Paco de Lucia on Paco's album ''Solo Quiero Caminar'', called "Monasterio De Sal" (Colombiana). On the same album, his use of harmonics and his groove playing on the track "Chanela" (Rumba) are reminiscent of the great jazz bassist

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...

http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A920210&dswid=-806 He is one of the musicians that is sought out by a long list of artists such as

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

and

Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (;), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flame ...

, and with the last he recorded "Paco de Lucía interpreta a Manuel de Falla". Since then the interaction between the two musicians has been consistent and fruitful, having played together for 25 years.

Injury

In 1995 he suffered a severe accident which seriously injured his left arm, causing Benavent to rethink his future as a musician, but he recovered well. After appearing in the Jazz Festival of Getxo he started the recording of the album ''Fénix''. His career is marked by collaborations inside and outside the world of flamenco - with his playing style, intuition, rhythm and musicality, he continues to be in continuous high demand for live performances and recording sessions.

Equipment

Carles Benavent plays a Jerzy Drozd custom "Barcelona" type 4-string and 5-string basses, with a high C string instead of standard low B. Instead of sounding lower as is usual among five-string bass players, Benavent uses it higher to do chords and have a piccolo bass, being towards guitar.

Partial discography

Màquina! Màquina! (also ''Máquina!'') was a Spanish prog rock and psychedelic rock group from Barcelona. It was formed in 1969 and disbanded in 1972. They were pioneers of progressive rock in Catalonia and Spain , image_flag = Bandera de E ...

- ''En Directo'' (1972) * Música Urbana - ''Música Urbana'' (1976) * Música Urbana - ''Iberia'' (1978) *

Paco de Lucía Sextet The Paco de Lucía Sextet is a flamenco music sextet, formed by guitarist Paco de Lucía and other musicians. The band has released three albums. In 1990 Paco de Lucia released Zyryab, an album made with his sextet and also featuring jazz pianist ...

- '' Sólo quiero caminar'' (1981) *

- ''

Touchstone Touchstone may refer to: * Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals * Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative merits of a concept Entertainment * ''Touchstone'' (album), a 1982 album by Chick Corea * T ...

'' (1982) *

- '' Again and Again'' (1983) *

Camarón de la Isla José Monje Cruz (5 December 1950 – 2 July 1992), better known by his stage name Camarón de la Isla (), was a Spanish Romani flamenco singer. Considered one of the all-time greatest flamenco singers, he was noted for his collaborations ...

- ''

Calle Real Calle means "street" in Spanish and Venetian. Calle may also refer to: Places *Calle-Calle River, southern Chile *Stations of the TransMilenio mass-transit system of Bogotá, Colombia: **Suba Calle 95 (TransMilenio) ** Suba Calle 100 (TransMilen ...

'' (1983) *

- ''Viviré'' (1984) *

- '' Live... One Summer Night'' (1984) *

- ''Soy Gitano'' (1989) *

Carmen Linares Carmen Pacheco Rodríguez (Born in 1951 in Linares, Jaén), better known by her stage name Carmen Linares, is one of the finest flamenco singers in Spain. She belongs to the best generation of flamenco artists with Paco de Lucía, Camarón ...

- ''La luna en el río'' (1991) *

- ''Potro de Rabia y Miel'' (1992) *

- ''

Live in América ''Live in América'' is a live album by Paco de Lucía Sextet, the band formed by famous flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía. Track listing # "Mi Niño Curro (Rondeña)" – 8:31 # "La Barrosa (Alegría)" – 4:56 # "Alcázar de Sevilla ( Bulerí ...

'' (1993) *

Diego Carrasco Diego Carrasco (born in 1954 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain) is a Spanish flamenco guitar player, composer and singer (''cantaor The cante flamenco (), meaning "flamenco singing", is one of the three main components of flamenco, along with ''to ...

- ''Voz de referencia'' (1993) * Nguyen Le Trio - ''Bakida'' (2000) * Carles Benavent & Josemi Carmona - ''Sumando'' (2006) *

- ''

The Ultimate Adventure ''The Ultimate Adventure'' is an album recorded by Chick Corea and released in 2006. Like his 2004 album '' To the Stars'', ''The Ultimate Adventure'' is a musical tribute to the work of science fiction author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hub ...

'' (2006) * Quartet (2009, bebyne records) * Un, Dos, Tres... (2011, bebyne records) * Iñaki Sandoval - ''Electric Trio Live'' (bebyne records, 2015)

References

External links

Official Website

FW - Carles Benavent

Personal Page

Verve Music artist page

bebyne records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benavent, Carles 1954 births Living people Jazz bass guitarists