Benjamin Boone musician - All About Jazz

Updated: December 31, 2020

Born: October 19, 1963

Saxophonist-composer Benjamin Boone’s 2018/2019 Origin Records “Poetry of Jazz” releases, collaborations with the late U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize recipient Philip Levine, were recognized as milestone poetry/music projects. Voted the #3 “Best Album of 2018” in DownBeat Magazine’s 83rd annual Readers Poll (just behind Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis), praised in leading musical and literary publications, and featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” The Poetry of Jazz established Boone as one of the most compelling voices among contemporary artists exploring the intersections between poetry and music.

He builds upon this foundation on his 2020 Origin Records album, The Poets Are Gathering, encompasses nearly a dozen writers exploring themes that thrum with the urgency of a protest march. The poetry addresses ripped-from- the-front-page topics such as police murder, racism, immigration, poverty, inequity, and mass shootings. As Gene Seymour writes in his extensive liner notes, “There are incantations and supplications to be found here. Also: elegies and headlines, howls and mantras, reveries and outbursts. They instruct and affirm.”

Poets include Tyehimba Jess (Pulitzer Prize), Patricia Smith (LA Times Book Award/National Slam Poetry Champion), Juan Felipe Herrera (U.S. Poet Laureate), and Edward Hirsch (MacArthur)—intertwining their work with that of 20 musicians, including pianist Kenny Werner, guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Corcoran Holt, and drummer Ari Hoenig.

Panoramic in scope and kaleidoscopic in vision, The Poets Are Gathering bursts with vivid imagery, exuberant emotions, exacting diagnoses, sinuous melodies, and thoughtful interplay. The album’s diverse voices offer perspectives on the world that is the United States in 2020. The social, cultural, political, and emotional turmoil of the moment is a recurring theme. In “Against Silence,” Tyehimba Jess offers a panorama of American violence and its toll, speaking against indiscriminate and unjust murder, both by police officers and drones, while Patricia Smith’s “That’s My Son There” condenses that panorama, providing a raw, intimate examination of the horrific and needless pain caused by these murders. Haitian American poet Patrick Sylvain twice meditates on immigration, portraying both the fraught journey and arrival (“Marooning”) and what it leaves behind (“Ports of Sorrow”). However, there is also room for less overtly political expression, whether in T.R. Hummer’s “The Sun One (Homage to Sun Ra),” Edward Hirsch’s nostalgic reflection “Branch Library,” or Marisol Baca’s cosmic abstraction “Spiral.”

The album’s far-flung vision isn’t surprising considering that the recording process was interrupted by Boone’s year- long music-rich Fulbright Fellowship in Ghana (an experience he documented with the Ghana Jazz Collective on their 2020 album Joy). The culture shock he experienced upon his return to Fresno was magnified by the unmistakable political and societal tensions he saw in the country, and he made sure the album reflected that reality. “I am humbled and honored to be able to collaborate with such marvelous poets, who so eloquently speak the truth about this country and of existence,” says Boone. “I am touched by their profound messages.”

Born October 19, 1963 in Statesville, North Carolina, Benjamin Boone grew up in an intellectually stimulating family and could have devoted himself to any number of pursuits. He concentrated on the saxophone and improvising from an early age, but was also interested in composition. “Being the younger brother of four overachieving older brothers, I was always drawn to interdisciplinary projects,” he says. He studied composition at the University of Tennessee and went on to get a Master of Music degree from Boston University and a Doctorate from the University of South Carolina, studying with heavyweights such as Bernard Rands, Gordon “Dick” Goodwin, Charles Fussell, John A. Lennon, and Jerry Coker. For his doctoral dissertation, Boone delved into the little-studied area of the musical analysis of speech, research cited in Oxford’s New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. As a Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellow, he conducted musical research in the former Soviet republic of Moldova. His interest in poetry is a natural outgrowth from his longstanding interest in language, cognition, and music. He traces his fascination with the music of spoken language to a hearing issue “that makes it hard for me to understand words,” he says. “When I hear people speak, I hear it as music. Listening to blues musicians speak, I hear blues lines, and my fascination with spoken language informed this project.” As a composer, Boone’s music has won 18 awards/honors and appears on some 30 CDs. It’s been featured on film soundtracks, and has been the subject of multiple national broadcasts on National Public Radio.

Awards

Boone's works have garnered over eighteen national/international honors and awards from the International Society of Contemporary Music, the Olympia International Prize for Composition, Billboard Magazine, the National Association of Composers USA, New Music USA, The American Music Center, the American Composer’s Forum, ASCAP Morton Gould Competition, Meet the Composer/Southeastern Arts Federation, the Southeastern Composers' League Competition, the Delius Foundation Competition, Tennessee Arts Council Composition Fellowship, North Carolina Composition Fellowship, and Boston University Composition Competition, among others. In addition, Boone served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to the Ghana during 2017-2018, and in 2005 he served as a U.S. Fulbright Senior Specialist to the Republic of Moldova. At California State University Fresno, Boone has received the university's highest award, the “Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching,” as well as the university's second highest honor, the “President’s Award of Excellence,” as well as the “Provost Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities,” and the “University Faculty Spirit of Service Award.”

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Album Review

The Poetry of Jazz by Mark Corroto
The Poetry of Jazz by Mark Corroto
The Poetry of Jazz by Duncan Heining
Joy by Chris M. Slawecki

***PRAISE FOR 2018’s “THE POETRY OF JAZZ,” ORIGIN RECORDS (82754)***

“An album of unmistakable importance – one could say of historic importance.” ~ UK Vibe Magazine, 5/5 review, April 21, 2018.

“The composition seems so natural…Poetry and jazz have long been great partners, but ‘The Poetry of Jazz’ offers a fresher take…one not to be missed.” ~ The Paris Review, “Editor’s Pick,” March 23, 2018.

“A terrific record– the best of its sort mixing poetry and jazz.” ~ NPR’s Tom Vitale.

“You hold in your hands jazz history. This is a CD that must be heard!” ~ Donald Brown, jazz pianist/producer.

***PRAISE FOR 2018’s “THE POETRY OF JAZZ,” ORIGIN RECORDS (82754)***

“An album of unmistakable importance – one could say of historic importance.” ~ UK Vibe Magazine, 5/5 review, April 21, 2018.

“A terrific record– the best of its sort mixing poetry and jazz.” ~ NPR’s Tom Vitale.

“You hold in your hands jazz history. This is a CD that must be heard!” ~ Donald Brown, jazz pianist/producer.

“The Poetry of Jazz (Origin)—demonstrates how well carefully crafted language and improvised music complement each other.” ~ New York City Jazz Record, August 2018.

“And it is Boone’s wit — as well as Levine’s — that lights up “Gin,” whose bebop melody is shared by saxophone and voice. Some of the lines here make me laugh. Trying to explain the appeal of gin, which tastes so bad yet is so addictive to their elders, a youngster posits that it must be the result of self-flagellation. Levine ironically comments: “He was very well read for a kid of 14 in public schools.” Lurking in the poem’s humor — an acute sense of the tragedy of wasted lives… trumpeter Harrell has never sounded more ravishing — or more romantic… It’s wonderful that this unexpected session happened and that it worked out so well.” ~ Michael Ullman, Arts Fuse, March 13, 2018.

“These guest artists [Chris Potter, Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Tom Harrell] might be the attraction for the jazz listener, and Levine for the poetry fan, but that would miss the extraordinary music both written and performed by Boone and several excellent sidemen.” ~Mark Corroto, All About Jazz, March 20, 2018.

“Gorgeous record. My words couldn’t do it justice.” ~Mark Corroto, All About Jazz

“A fascinating mélange of music and poetry… an engaging fusion of two terrific artists…The poetry is amazingly expressive and the music ties in wonderfully.” ~ Dave Rogers (Professor Bebop), WTJU – UVA

“Benjamin Boone knows how to get inside the poem, Phil Levine’s inscrutable and imploding loops of poetics, his observations of the seen and unseen. Boone knows Where the thing called poetry lives, an ocelot among the waters, a sky-shaped Rain God that flares down upon us. He does this with a myriad of instruments, with human breath chiseling and burning through brass and string, reeds and skin and hands and resin. He is one of the very few that can lure Phil’s poetry-magic and call it out and show it to the world… Beyond words… up there with the muses.” ~ Juan Felipe Herrera, Poet Laureate of the United States.

“The innovative saxophonist Benjamin Boone delivers a special collaboration,” ~ Zeal NYC, March 9, 2018. “Clever and Beat Generation session of the 21st Century… The modern Greenwich Village and Left Bank of jazz.” ~ Jazz Weekly, May 17, 2018.

“A hipster top ten.” ~ Chris Spector, Midwest Record, December 29, 2018.

“Fantastic CD… the absolute best jazz/poetry song I’ve heard (yet) in 2018… just SUPERB work here that gets a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) rating of a (perfect) 5.00 – that means, of course, that it also gets my “PICK” for “best jazz/poetry album.” ~Rotcod Zzaj, Review, Improvijazzation Nation The Normal School: A Literary Magazine, “Word Music: A Discussion with Brian Turner and Benjamin Boone,” June 12, 2018.

“Unpretentious, ego-less desire to communicate the relevant poetry’s feelings and moods… Boone flies on soprano sax… an elegy and homage to Philip Levine… it brings me indescribable happiness," Brilliant Corners: A Journal of Jazz and Literature, “A song that would tell the story of all these things together,” Winter 2018.

***PRAISE FOR 2019’s “THE POETRY OF JAZZ - VOLUME TWO,” ORIGIN RECORDS (82772)***

“Visually resonant… lovingly produced.” ~ Bradley Bambarger, Downbeat, January 10, 2019.

“Boone provides aching saxophone lines…Sterling arrangements… better than perfect… The music is full of life and colour, …very much die for…” ~ Raul da Gama, Jazz da Gamba, June 1, 2019.

“In the 26 years of running UK Vibe, and the 35 years of buying and enjoying music, these albums of yours have reached deeper than most in that time. It just feels so real.” ~ Steven Williams Heath, Founder, UK VIBE “… emotionally direct, unpretentious and irascibly open-hearted …” ~ San Francisco Classical Voice, October 13, 2019.

“Rarely found depth, sophistication, and listenability… their efforts work beautifully… It will likely take a long time before someone does it this well again. Meanwhile, musicians could benefit from listening to this album for what it can tell them about the inner core of their music… Levine, Boone and the group show us by example a little of what we go through in our lives and its intimate connection to the creative process of jazz.” ~Victor L. Shermer, All About Jazz, January 21, 2019.

“A vivid snapshot of an important piece of American history wonderfully captured on record with the foresight of Boone … one is drawn in with a rare and intimate immediacy … We’d better make the most of it as there won’t be any more where this came from.” ~ UK Vibe Magazine, 5/5 review, July 25, 2019. “Some of it [this CD] is just so hip it will flat domino you…remarkable…amazing stuff…” ~Dave Rogers (Professor Bebop) WTJU – UVA

“A singular collaboration.” ~ Jazz Times, April 25, 2019.

“It has been a banner time for high-profile jazz-poetry collaborations. Last year saw the release of Matt Wilson’s long-planned tribute to Carl Sandburg, Nicole Mitchell’s teaming with Haki Madhubuti and Jane Ira Bloom’s musical refractions of Emily Dickinson’s terse verse, among other projects. But now there is The Poetry of Jazz, providing us with the revelatory phenomenon of the wordsmith being the heppest musical cat on the scene.”~Jazz Times feature, April 25, 2019.

“A stunning piece… celebrate this brilliant collaboration.” ~ Richard Kamins, Step Tempest Praise for 2020’s “Joy,” Origin Records (82800)

“When you think of a Fulbright Scholar heading off to deepest darkest Africa, do you picture a white boy that understands funk? Pairing here with his pals, Ghana Jazz Collective, the two cultures collide in a jolly mash up that proves once again that music is the universal language and how easy it is to resolve any conflict if you really want to. Upbeat, badass stuff that’s a gasser throughout, it’s too bad more white boys can’t have this much fun— even without having to go to Ghana. This is creative music that will stand the test of time.” ~Chris Spector, Midwest Record

“On the two volumes of The Poetry of Jazz… [Boone] demonstrated his ability to fluently interact with and reply to a spoken text. On Joy, Boone expands his penchant for conversation… [with] a West African lilt but the language is all-the-way jazz… Particularly impressive is Curtain of Light… dramatic and explicit.” ~ Hobart Taylor, Downbeat Magazine, 3.5-star review, April 2020.

“Wonderful merging of cultures… great title tune, “Joy”… Drummer Frank Kissi is a master of the polyrhythms that pulsate under the album’s tracks. Bassist Bright Osei gives a fresh, thumping, funky twist to Herbie Hancock’s classic, “Maiden Voyage.” Pianist Victor Dey Jr. and saxophonists Boone and Bernard Ayisa shine throughout. Vocalist Sandra Huson sings gorgeously on Boone’s tune “Without You,” but her more intriguing contribution is a frenetic vocalese on Boone’s wild composition “Slam.” ~ Ron Netsky, Rochester City Newspaper, 3/25/20. “Boone’s colleagues… prove to be polyglot performers equally conversant in the languages of funk, post- bop, swing and, of course, African forms… creat[ing] an amalgam that draws from those various traditions and ideals but remains fastened to none of them. The morphing opener, “The Intricacies of Alice,” makes that point better than any song on the album. Shifting gears with incredible precision while also keeping a fixed eye on melodic clarity, it gives pause to admire the handiwork of the well-oiled rhythm section. A soaring, punchy “Maiden Voyage” follows. Boone, sounding like a man possessed, brings the heat, and Ayisa and Dey, in smart contrast, play things on the somewhat sly side…”Slam,” with Huson’s wordless incantations, seems to play to ancient rites and modern- day strife all at once; “Curtain of Light” brings Ethiopian expressionism into the band’s orbit; “The 233 Jazz Bar,” nodding to the venue where these musicians connected, plays to the region’s funkier side; and the Gerry Niewood– penned title track, with Boone gleefully riding the currents, encapsulates the titular spirit.” ~ Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz 4/5 review

“Boone’s colleagues… prove to be polyglot performers equally conversant in the languages of funk, post- bop, swing and, of course, African forms… creat[ing] an amalgam that draws from those various traditions and ideals but remains fastened to none of them. The morphing opener, “The Intricacies of Alice,” makes that point better than any song on the album. Shifting gears with incredible precision while also keeping a fixed eye on melodic clarity, it gives pause to admire the handiwork of the well-oiled rhythm section. A soaring, punchy “Maiden Voyage” follows. Boone, sounding like a man possessed, brings the heat, and Ayisa and Dey, in smart contrast, play things on the somewhat sly side…”Slam,” with Huson’s wordless incantations, seems to play to ancient rites and modern- day strife all at once; “Curtain of Light” brings Ethiopian expressionism into the band’s orbit; “The 233 Jazz Bar,” nodding to the venue where these musicians connected, plays to the region’s funkier side; and the Gerry Niewood– penned title track, with Boone gleefully riding the currents, encapsulates the titular spirit.” ~ Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz 4/5 review

“Genuine cross-cultural jazz Joy… dexterous and powerful rhythm machine… Osei is simply magnificent… room- shaking, finger-popping bass line… steeplechase of saxophone and piano solos… joyful marriage of African and American music… a massive explosion of communal jazz expression, with pianist Dey playing the part of McCoy Tynerto complement Boone’s yowling, John Coltrane-like soprano sax.” ~ All About Jazz, Chris M. Slawecki “Great music.” ~ Jeff Hanley, host of PRX’s syndicated shows “Jazz Happening Now” and “Jazz After Hours” “Wow this album is full of power! I love the dynamics of the songs. I sort of feel like I’m hang-gliding through a mountain range. It’s definitely a strong happy coping mechanism during this time. Thanks for making the music!” ~ Murf Reeves, WWOZ New Orleans

“A superb new album… an excellent new album… I like the album so much… Right up my street…one of the best releases so far this year!” (in may 2020) ~ Ruth Fisher, London’s JazzFM (largest jazz station in London)

“I absolutely love your music! I also truly admire the connections you make in your music…bathed in joy, exuberance and dance…this blend of musicians is a beautiful and energetic sample of the positive energy of music.” Dave Rogers (Professor Bebop) WTJU Charlottesville

“You produce great music!” Ed Smith, Jazz Now” WOWD, Tacoma Park

“Absolutely terrific!” ~ Russ Haines, WWSP, Stevens Point

“Album of the Week…Fun and vibrant… unique mesh of traditional and experimentation.” ~Konstantin Nicholas Rega, In the Clouds (UK)

“The CD transmits Boone’s passionate and melodious alto and soprano saxophones and the amazing technique of the Ghana musicians.” ~ Walker’s, Japanese music magazine.

“The joy and passion of the Ghana Jazz Collective is Infectious (if I dare use that word)” ~ Brad Stone, “The Creative Connection” and “European Jazz Union” radio shows.

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