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In New York City, fifty dollars a week won't get you very far, but it's still twice as nice as twenty-five dollars. At least that's what drummer Joe Russo was thinking in 2002 when he was offered a weekly Knitting Factory residency that paid a total of a hundred dollars. Deciding that a duo would be twice as profitable as a quartet, he called up his childhood chum Marco Benevento, a jazz keyboardist, and serendipitously formed the Benevento/Russo Duo. Little did either partner imagine how rapidly this casual side gig would acquire an audience.
"It all happened by accident," recalls Benevento. "We didn't say, 'Let's start an organ-and-drums duo.' Our fans turned us into a band."
Their early shows allowed the pair to experiment with both the freedoms and limitations of being an instrumental rock duo. Russo has since programmed melodic samples into his drum pads, while Benevento tricked out his keyboard rig with effects including pedal bass. Between the two of them, they can create music that sounds surprisingly full -- saturated, even -- and always organic. They can spontaneously stretch out any song at will and they take calculated risks that rely on instant communication and flexibility.
Initially, some of that jam aesthetic was more out of necessity than virtue: The duo simply didn't have enough original material for a weekly multi-set show, so they adopted covers by every one from Elliott Smith to Radiohead, flushing out the arrangements, Benevento says, with "lots of made-up twenty-minute odysseys." But when the group tired of being labeled a jam band, they stumbled upon an edgier sound.
"I went to Berklee College of Music and I was way into jazz, but my roots are in rock," Benevento explains. "And it's really challenging to compose a rock song in a duo setting. So that's what we're into."
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Indeed the group's new release, Play Pause Stop, is filled with complex but anthemic rock tunes that never lack for want of guitar, bass or vocals. There may be no lyrics, but "you can sing the songs," says Russo.
In the live setting, fans can still expect the Benevento/Russo Duo to take the same kinds of risks they did back at the Knitting Factory, when they'd embark on long improvisational adventures. As Russo observes, "The jazz mentality that comes into our rock playing is that we're not afraid of anything. We'll go out and if it doesn't land, who gives a fuck? Nobody dies, you know?"
This summer, the duo backed Phish's Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon on a summer amphitheater run, opening each show with a set by the duo proper. That tour, bundled with two sets of Phil Lesh and Friends, proved to be an exciting venture for the pair -- and no doubt fetched the guys more than $100 per gig. Russo and Benevento will now launch their own nationwide tour this fall, in support of Play Pause Stop. The jaunt will be preceded by festival appearances at Fuji Rock (Japan) and Austin City Limits, as well as Chicago's Lollapalooza this weekend.
"Emotionally, it feels really good right now," says Russo. "I can't imagine not going out and doing this."
Benevento/Russo Duo tour dates:
8/6: Chicao, Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
9/1: Portland, OR, Douglas Fir Lounge
9/2: Seattle, Neumo's
9/3: Eugene, OR, W.O.W. Hall
9/4: Reno, NV, Ciao Reno
9/6: Crystal Bay, NV, Crystal Bay Club Casino
9/7: San Francisco, The Independent
9/8: San Francisco, The Independent
9/9: West Hollywood, The Troubadour
9/10: San Juan Capistrano, CA, Coach House
9/15: Austin, Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Music Festival)