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joseph benzola
Joseph Benzola is an independent multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer living in NY. He does not conform to one discipline' idiom~ or theory, but embraces all types of music's and playing philosophies.
He does not see a dichotomy between written or improvised, acoustic or electric, real time or sequenced, jazz, classical, rock, world music, etc. Instead, he sees theses various visions as tools for his own unique musical concepts. The music of Benzola does not keep various disciplines placed in separate boxes, but rather allows the ideas of Sun Ra, Coltrane, Miles, Monk, and Taylor to dance with Africa, India, Bali, Cage, Xenakis, Stockhausen, and Varese.
The unifying center to his musical/sound universe is the gathering of these concepts in a creative improvised setting, how various sound/musical environments can co-exist in seemingly unrelated manners. There is a very free use of rhythm. Many times, the rhythm/flow of a piece will dictate all other elements to follow. So, rhythm is not used as a straight "four on the floor" dance center, but rather draws all sound/musical elements into its flow.
Also of importance is the use of juxtaposed timbres and sound elements in replacement of so called diatonic melodies and tonal harmonies. My compositions bare very little resemblance to the western song tradition, but rather follow their own structural path.
Spotlight from IMR
You'd be hard-pressed to find a better example of the DIY mindset than Amanita Music.
Amanita Music is Joseph Benzola, and vice-versa. Benzola is the Marketing department, the Design department, the Producer, the Artist and every role in between. His works, his art, his most intimate musical expressions are, to use a rather vulgar term, the Product.
Perhaps it's a rather base description, but that's par for the course when you're a one-person operation that has created some extremely challenging, personal music. Amanita Music, despite the impeccable pedigree of Benzola's wildly varied list of influences and inspirations, is music for which the average listener, lulled by commercial jazz and alternative rock, may have no point of reference whatsoever.
Though Amanita Music is a label that defies labeling, Benzola speaks enthusiastically of the philosophy behind his sound. Amanita, he says, offers "Creative Psychedelic Music" -- not in the tired, traditional acid-trip, cringe-inducing Hawkwind-y sort of way, but material that expands and challenges the mind while defying any sort of pigeonholing by genre, era, etc. By way of example, Benzola offers such names as Mingus, Coltrane, Monk, Cage, Stockhausen, Fripp, Eno and Zappa (and many, many more). It is the sound of iconoclasm.
The pre-Amanita Benzola spent many years playing in a wide variety of bands, working with a liberal mix of genres, all without an adequate degree of satisfaction -- there was no artistic high. Disappointed by the lack of commitment shown by his fellow musicians, and weary of being unable to develop his own works within such rigid confines, Benzola decided to go it alone. "They (the other bands) would not/could not take the music to the levels that I wanted to take it," he says. So, with an eclectic mixture of percussion, piano, digital and analog synthesizers -- not to mention a world-ranging assortment of bells, flutes, gongs and unique percussion -- Joseph created Amanita's first three releases.
Amanita Music isn't about rigidly organized, highly controlled, meticulously composed sound, and it shows. Benzola's music is unrestrained; not only is it clearly capable of going almost anywhere, but one can be fairly certain that it WILL pursue some seemingly-unpredictable tangent. It is not chaotic, but a first time listener might not catch this right away. Amanita Music requires a certain perspective; when one can see the musical "big picture", apparent chaos resolves itself to be part of a greater plan made obvious by scale. Thus Benzola's music grows neither randomly nor via written notes, but by a unique, logical progression the eventual understanding of which can be highly rewarding for the listener -- just the sort of mind-expanding experience of which Benzola speaks, as if music is an eminently more elegant analog of higher mathematics.
Amanita's first three releases, which appeared in early 1995, are undeniably unique.
"Reflections" has an unearthly quality to it. At once both alien and curiously organic, it is full of the controlled chaos of nature. This first tape is perhaps the most variable of the three; sometimes it is jarring, brimming over with nervous energy, and at other times it is contemplative.
"Serenity" carries on the Eastern-tinged, often cinematic ambience of "Reflections" but the sound here seems simultaneously broader and more distant. There is a broader base of percussion here -- and like all Amanita releases, percussion is instrumentation, NOT rhythm -- with reverberation very much a part of the mix. The synthesized sounds on this and "Reflections" seemed oddly similar to some of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's early eighties work, which is similarly brooding, sparse and evocative.
"The Third Ear" offers some of the best examples of Benzola's extrapolative music-building, as seemingly random piano rhythms evolve, ordering themselves into progressive themes. It's quite intriguing to listen to them grow, mutate and turn inward. There may not be any traditional "melodies" here, but there is an undeniable logic.
Benzola's own descriptions of his creative process offer further insight. "To me," he says, "rhythm is not just a pattern but a flow, a contour. For example, the playing of Rashied Ali, Sunny Murray and Milford Graves exemplify this concept. This is true for other instruments as well...Melody to me is not synonymous with melifluous. Most people think of "melody" as "pretty". Melody to me is just the rhythmic relations of notes. Without rhythm and contours, there is no melody. Harmony is just the relationship between groups of notes either in rhythm, melody, timbre or sound."
Committed artists often balk at the business aspects of the DIY aesthetic. This, after all, is where dreams can get mired in the boring realities of work. The Amanita Music philosophy extends itself to business matters, too; while Amanita gives no evidence of being disorganized or ill-planned, Benzola's approach is very much a casual, "take things as they come" mindset. While he is extremely passionate about his work -- remember, the man IS the label -- he can take comfort in the fact that this is his avocation. Benzola clearly doesn't expect Amanita to support him in any way, which gives him the absolute freedom to do things his way. That freedom may extend to his improvisational musicianship, or to his option to give away his recordings if he's so inclined. It's artistic freedom to a degree that Benzola didn't bother looking for at any other labels. He wanted to do this 100% on his own terms, and that's what's being done. Inspired in part by labels like Incus, the late Debut label, Saturn and others, Amanita Music makes its own rules.
In the grand tradition of labels like ROIR, Amanita releases are cassette only. This is only partly dictated by economic concerns; Benzola records on DAT (and would prefer to release on it, had the major labels not killed the commercial viability of that format) and his cassette copies are very high quality. Benzola is confident that his music will create a unique sonic experience on any player, regardless of quality -- the concern is the message, not the method of retrieval.
You won't find Amanita Music releases at your local Sam Goody, but they're available through the Amanita Website (more info below). Every release celebrates the joy of DIY, the pleasure of improvisation and the reward of not-so-reckless abandon -- even down to the cover art, naturally designed by Benzola, whose tinkerings with Corel Five and Kai's Power Tools are visual extensions of his music. Benzola puts it best: "I approach graphics like I would approach the knobs on a synthesiser -- spin them and see what happens, but remember to save the patch!"
For the future, Amanita is readying its fourth tape, "The Sound of One Hand Clapping." This magnum opus will sport well over an hour of music, including the intriguing "Portraits of the Dead" , a multi-section work in which Benzola addresses various dead musicians -- Frank Zappa, John Cage, Sun Ra and Miles Davis among them.
Amanita Music, Benzola admits, is difficult listening. It's not readily accessible 3-chord harmony stuff that's over in 3 minutes and leaves you unchanged. Amanita Music is a profoundly sensual experience that's designed to stimulate thought and change. Maybe it will work for you, maybe it won't. If you're ready for a challenge, or if you're ready to consider one, visit the Amanita website (http://kspace.com/amanita/) to read more about the label, view art, sample songs and order tapes. Getting involved in Joseph Benzola's labor of love will be quite an experience.
Benzola himself has undoubtedly been enriched by the opportunity to challenge himself and present his unusual music to a widening audience. He hopes others will be similarly inspired. "Remember," he says, "people will give you 1,000,000,000 excuses not to do something, but they have a hard time coming up with one to do something!" This might almost be the unofficial Amanita Music motto/mantra, and it can be spoken with a degree of pride -- for unlike many of us, Joseph Benzola found that one reason.
--George Zahora
REVIEWS
"Joseph Benzola's Amanita Music" He has released four self-produced albums of probing, insightful and very spiritual music that is difficult to label but "Free Jazz Psychedelic" is as close as just about anything else." Jim Eaves; Head First Productions
"Joseph Benzola started a label dedicated to his own brand of psychedelic music. Serenity is his second release and it reminds me a lot of the experimental electronics that were popular in the early '80s - imagine an electronic version of "The 5000 Fingers of Doctor T" with seemingly random notes and spacey melodies trailing off into odd sectors of the mind. A crisp recording that the experimentalist will love." Fact Sheet Five
"The variety of exotic atmospheres that Benzola creates is quite impressive, and his use of hollow and nasal reeds and percussion to design African or Mideast imagery is often compelling. There certainly is a trippiness to Benzola's best work. He is a capable sonic architect and an imaginative drummer." Walter Horn; Cadence
Hear tracks from all the Amanita Music albums here at homemademusic.com. 10 songs!
Amanita Music Listening Station
CONTACT
Amanita Music
54 Edgewood Ave.
Oakdale, NY 11769e-mail: amanitamusic@systec.com
official web site: http://kspace.com/amanita
mix it up with Joseph Benzola
Joseph Benzola reviewed at gajoob.com
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