Benevento-Russo Duo Ready To Rock Without Words

Instrumental Group Performs at Boone Saloon November 9

Story by Jason Gilmer

The Benevento-Russo Duo has been playing shows together since 2002 and has developed a large following of fans. The band, made up of organist Marco Benevento and drummer Joe Russo, has played Boone four or five times and always has a good time, Benevento said.

The Benevento-Russo Duo says nothing but it says so much.

An instrumental duo made up of childhood friends Mark Benevento (organ) and Joe Russo (drums) will bring their rock stylings to the Boone Saloon for a 10:00 p.m. show on Monday, November 9.

While their groovy tunes lack lyrical content, they don’t lack power.

“I don’t think it makes it easier or harder,” Benevento said of playing songs without words. “It’s just a different way of song-writing.

“I could rattle off a handful of instrumental tunes that have blown my mind through the years like “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” by the Allman Brothers, “Green Onion” by Booker T and the MGs and then Herbie Hancock’s music.”

The music is there to be interpreted by the flocks of fans who come to listen.

Songs may not be written about a certain subject—though Benevento does have a song about his daughter—or around a theme, but they can be interpreted in many ways.

Benevento said that a song’s story generally develops over the years.

“I think some songs have particular moods—just the mood I was in, something I was thinking about or something that happened that day,” he said as he drove to his Brooklyn rehearsal space.

Not having vocals can be quite helpful to the band.

“It definitely lends itself to some curve balls,” Benevento said. “When you’re improvising or playing over a certain set of chord changes, we can do it a lot differently than we do it on the record and make it a more interesting, new approach.

“In a band [with vocals], you don’t get as many curve balls because there’s a set way of doing things. So in a band with no vocals, especially a two piece, who knows how we’ll play the style of our own particular tune.”

The Duo, as they are known in many jam circles, formed in 2002 when Russo began playing a weekly gig at New York City’s Knitting Factory. At $50 each, Benevento and Russo began playing their style of improvising songs and playing off each other’s musicianship.

More and more fans showed up. They began to record some albums and then they started making their mark on the national scene. They’ve played big festivals like Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza and toured alongside Phish lead singer and guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon.

“It was totally by accident,” Benevento said of the success. “We didn’t expect it, but at the same time we were pretty hungry to travel and play a lot of gigs and figure out how to make money and play music at the same time.”

This eight-show tour will bring the group down the East Coast, finishing with a show at the Bear Creek Music Festival in Florida.

Benevento and Russo have begun writing music for a new album and plan to play some on the current tour.

For more information on the group, click to www.beneventorussoduo.com.

LOCAL WEATHER FORECAST

LATEST COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS

TOP NEWS ACROSS THE NATION

HIGH COUNTRY MAGAZINE