David Benoit (musician)

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David Benoit, (born May 9, 1953) is an American jazz fusion / contemporary jazz pianist, composer and producer, who is from Los Angeles, California. He has been nominated for five Grammy Awards.

His debut album Freedom at Midnight was his biggest seller and most popular album. Benoit also says that it was his favorite album to produce, because it was when "everything came together," as he stated in an interview on smoothviews.com.

Out of respect for one of his main influencers, Bill Evans, he dedicated his 1992 album Letter to Evan to him.

Many of his songs employed a string section, most notably on his American Landscape and Orchestral Stories albums in 1997 and 2005, respectively. He has said that it is his dream to release a symphonic album.

In 2000, after the death of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, he released a memorial album entitled Here's To You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years. Collaborators included the chorus group Take 6, guitarist Mark Antoine and trumpeter Chris Botti. He also did the music for "Peanuts" in the later specials.

He is a close friend of The Rippingtons' guitarist and lead Russ Freeman, and they often appeared on each other's albums. They also released collaborative efforts The Benoit/Freeman Project and The Benoit/Freeman Project 2.

[edit] Discography

Title Year of Release Label
Heavier Than Yesterday 1977 AVI
Can You Imagine 1980 AVI
Stages 1982 AVI
Digits 1983 AVI
Christmastime 1983 AVI
This Side Up 1985 AVI
Freedom At Midnight 1987 GRP
Every Step Of The Way 1988 GRP
Urban Daydreams 1989 GRP
Waiting For Spring 1989 GRP
Inner Motion 1990 GRP
Shadows 1991 GRP
Letter To Evan 1992 GRP
The Benoit/Freeman Project 1994 GRP
Shaken Not Stirred 1994 GRP
The Best of David Benoit: 1987 - 1995 1995 GRP
Remembering Christmas 1996 GRP
American Landscape 1997 GRP
Professional Dreamer 1999 GRP
Here's To You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years 2000 GRP
Fuzzy Logic 2002 GRP
Right Here, Right Now 2003 GRP
Benoit/Freeman Project 2 2004 Peak
Orchestral Stories 2005 Peak
Full Circle 2006 Peak

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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