Michel Benita

Michel Benita at the INNtöne Jazzfestival 2019

Michel Benita (born July 29, 1954 in Algiers ) is a French jazz bassist .

Live and act

At the age of five, Benita moved to France with his parents. First he studied guitar at the Montpellier Music Academy , then bass. First he played in the south of France with musicians such as Jean-Marc Padovani , Guy Lafitte and Bill Coleman ; then he took lessons from Henri Texier . In 1981 he moved to Paris, where he worked as a studio and session musician. He worked with Michel Portal , Joe Lovano , Lee Konitz , Daniel Humair , André Ceccarelli , Michel Legrand , Horace Parlan , Archie Shepp and Adam Nussbaum .

François Jeanneau , in whose quartet he worked, brought him to the first edition of the Orchester National de Jazz in 1986 , with which he toured Europe and Africa. From 1988 he presented his own compositions to the audience in a quartet with the pianist Rita Marcotulli . His warm, powerful and flexible tone on the double bass led to collaborations with musicians such as Marc Ducret , Martial Solal and Nguyên Lê , but also with Gil Evans , McCoy Tyner , Toots Thielemans , Judy Niemack , Urs Leimgruber , Don Friedman and Dino Saluzzi .

With drummers Aldo Romano , Paolo Fresu and Glenn Ferris he led the band project Palatino , which performed across Europe. He then went on a world tour with Erik Truffaz , occupied himself with Nu Jazz and also worked with Robert Wyatt .

Preferences (with Dewey Redman , Rita Marcotulli and Aldo Romano; 1990)
Soul (with Dewey Redman, Rita Marcotulli and Aldo Romano; 1994)
Lower the Walls (with Bobby Thomas, Andy Sheppard, and Sylvain Luc ; 1998)
Rough (with Gaël Horellou , Philippe Garcia; 2001)
Drastic (with Nils Petter Molvær , Dhafer Youssef , Erik Truffaz, Jalal and Kpt'n Planet, 2006)
Erskine -Lê-Benita: Dream Flight (2008)

Commons : Michel Benita - Collection of images, videos and audio files