Marco has been positively reviewed in this blog many times. Unfortunately, the blog was not around when I sat on a young Marco Benevento’s speaker and watched over his shoulder as he madly plunked piano, organ, and all manner of keyboards, including a Playskool Baby, Baby grand at a late night session in a sweaty ski lodge. Onstage with his musical life partner Joe Russo on drums, the Duo, as they were, manned the door at the dawning of the Jam revolution. At that time, a young Marco soaked in a variety of jazz, blues, and pop influences. Fast forward to today, Russo and Benevento head up the Grateful Dead cover outfit JRAD (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead). Occasionally, as on this evening, Marco gets free from JRAD, and takes the stage to do his thing. I’ve likened Marco to a drug thieving Cheshire Cat, but I think he’s more of a cross between Rick Wakeman and Captain Jack Sparrow. Joined onstage by drummer, and fantastic young female bassist, the trio barreled through a set of originals, teases, and some clever covers. Bassist Karina is of indeterminate age. She could be anywhere between 15 and 35, although I did see her 3 years back, so 12 would be ridiculous. There is a 20 year trove of solo material to pull from and teases like Suzanne Vega’s Tom’s Diner were welcome. Some excellent almost disco passages made good use of the muscular bass. Show highlight was a frenetic cover of Harry Nilsson’s Jump Into The Fire.
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