...Midnight Choir ultimately packs a wallop for the listener who stays with it.
James Bennington was born May 22, 1970 in Columbus, Ohio and raised in Detroit, Michigan until age 9 when his family moved to Houston, Texas. A self-taught musician whose experience has come from private study, work as a sideman and as a band leader. From 2000 to 2002 Jimmy toured with Elvin Jones' group acting as band manager and drum tech, working in the world's top jazz venues. His group, The Jimmy Bennington Midnight Choir, performs around the U.S. including frequent tours of Texas and the West Coast.
Track Listing:
1. The Mind (Seth Paynter)
2 Two Fascinations (Seth Paynter)
3 Street of Lonliness (Albert Mangelsdorff)
4 Equinox (John Coltrane)
5 Ganges (Seth Paynter)
6 Malcom Pinson! (Jimmy Bennington/Seth Paynter)
7 What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life (Michel LaGrande)
Performers:
SETH PAYNTER - tenor & soprano saxophones, vocal (1), hand drum (6)
BRUCE MELVILLE - trombone (2,4)
JOHN BENJAMIN - piano (5,7)
DAVID KLINGENSMITH - bass
JIMMY BENNINGTON - drums, arrangments
Production Info:
Recorded at ROCK ROMANO'S STUDIOS, The Heights, Houston, Texas
Tracks 1, 5, 7 recorded in 1996
Tracks 2, 3, 4 recorded in 1998
Mixed and mastered at JEFF KNUDSON STUDIOS, April, 2003, Portland, OR
Cover photo by MATT JORGENSEN
Tray photo by TODD BISHOP
Photo of Jimmy by GUZMAN
Live photos by D. ROZYCKI
Layout & design by JOHN BISHOP / ORIGINARTS
This recording is dedicated to my dad Arthur James LeMaster, b. 1919 - d. 1984
Mr. Malcom Pinson! can also be heard on "Black Saint" by Billy Harper.
Reviews of Midnight Choir
All About Jazz (Bud Kopman)
There is little information included about the music on Midnight Choir to prepare you for the listening experience (though there is a bio of Jimmy Bennington), and the disc starts right off quite abstractly. The first two tracks are attributed to Seth Paynter (sax) and are of a sparse, non-rhythmic, free kind that is more expressionist than anythin ...
Expose (Jon Davis)
The tracks on this release are the work of a trio (drummer Jimmy Bennington and bassist David Klingensmith with sax player Seth Paynter) augmented from time to time by either trombone (Bruce Melville) or piano (John Benjamin). Paynter is the most frequent composer, with a selection each by John Coltrane, Albert Mangelsdorff, and Michel LeGrande. Th ...
Cadence (Jason Bivens)
Bennington has assembled a crew of thoughtful, restrained, and talented players to generate music that reminded me alot of Tony Williams' excellent early Blue Note records Spring and Lifetime. Paynter, who wrote many of these tunes, speaks in elliptical phrases and favors episodic compositions which leave players alone in the spotlight for long dur ...
One Final Note (David Dupont)
Midnight Choir dates back to 1996 and 1998. It was released as a cd-R at some point before this 2003 OA2 Records edition. Recorded in Houston, Texas, it features Bennington with a small shifting cast of players. The core is a trio with bassist David Klingensmith and saxophonist Seth Paynter. Bennington takes a back seat to his colleagues.Paynter co ...
Muses Muse (Ben Ohmart)
Be warned. Jimmy Bennington's new cd Midnight Choir isn't for everyone. If you're in need of some steamy sax and mainstream vibe after a hard day at the car wash, this release isn't for you. It's jazz music that treats the drum as an instrument equal to the piano, and also believes that tunes are better felt than heard. These 7 cuts experiment with ...