Artist description The music which I play is based on the creative principles of such master musicians such as Coltrane, Miles, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, The AACM, Xenakis, Stockhausen, etc. I also utilize the principles found in the musics of India, Africa, Bali. My goal is to synthesize a unique and individual music that that grows organically from my influences rather than just being a generic rip-off.

Music Style Creative Improvised Psychedelic Music

Musical Influences Coltrane, Miles, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Art Ensemble, Braxton, Xenakis, Stockhausen, Cage

Similar Artists Art Ensemble, Sun Ra, Stockhausen, Cage, Zappa, Coltrane, Musics fo Africa, India, Bali

Group Members The band is me! I play a wide array of instruments including drums, percussion,shenai, bamboo flutes, acoustic pianomodules,wind controller, sound manipulation and processing hardware/software.

Instruments I play a wide array of instruments including drums, percussion,shenai, bamboo flutes, acoustic piano electronic keyboards, sound modules,wind controller, sound manipulation and processing hardware/software.

Albums Reflections, Serenity, The Third Ear, The Sound of One Hand Clapping

Press Reviews " ...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" Between 1995 and 1998, JOSEPH BENZOLA, a percussionist andelectroacoustician, released four cassettes on his own record label, AmanitaMusic. He recently re-released them on CD-R. The Sound of One Hand Clappingis his latest effort. The first half of the record is the title track, aneight-part suite for percussion. This very introspective work becomes almosttantric at times. Follows "Portraits of the Dead" a series of eight pieceswritten as tributes to some of the greatest composers of left this world."Tributees" include Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, John Cage, Edgar Varese andTheolonious Monk, but the best work is the dedication to Sun Ra. Benzolareally captured the essence of Sun Ra's magic and managed to make it his,turning what could have been a simple rip-off imitation into a truetribute. Bravo." François Couture; Réalisateur de Délire Musical et Délire Actuel,CFLX."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 ProductionsThe title of Joseph Benzola's recent avant-garde jazz releaserefers to a crytical Zen koan; similarly, the music is cryptical andreferential and, like a zen koan, does not makes sense rationally butmakes utter sense spiritually. All of the percussive and electronic musicon the release is performed by Benzola single-handedly. Single-handedly,he wrote and produced the music, and single-handedly he runs the labeldistributing the disc, Amanita Music. When you hear the density andvariety of the music on this disc, you wonder how it could be created byone hand (or two hands, that is). The title song, the first suite of twocomprising the disc, commences with the sounds of bells and gongs, as if acall to worship, and proceeds into a wailing duet sounding like twomourners weeping. By the third track of eight in this suite, drums andwooden bells suggest the beat of Santana's "Jingo," and a flute takes upthe riff. This is not to say the song sounds like a bad rip-off: rather,it sounds referential to the original while creating an aural landscapeall its own."Portraits of the Dead," the second suite (comprising thesubsequent eight tracks), pays homage to a wide array of radical musicalinnovators, from Kurt Cobain to Sun Ra to Frank Zappa to John Cage toThelonious Monk. As with the "Jingo" riff, each "Portrait" is referentialwithout being derivative. "Kurt and Jaco are Dancing in Heaven" beginswith distortion reminiscent of the intro to Nirvana's "Breed," but thenelectronica clanging and droning take over. Benzola merely invokes oneelement of Nirvana's sound, fusing it into his own aesthetic. The Sun Ratribute sounds appropriately cosmic, while the Zappa tribute isappropriately short and cacaphonous. Perhaps the most successful"Portrait" from an avante-garde sense is the John Cage tribute, whichsounds haunting and discordant, like the "Jaws" theme pounded out on pianostrings. Delire Actuel Radio listed "The Sound of One Hand Clapping" asone of the Top 100 Avante-Garde Releases of 1999--appropriatelyBill Baue; Valley AdvocateJoseph Benzola views his music as being psychedelic. He's well aware that it's nowhere near to being acid rock, but he does feel strongly that the music is mind expanding. With a background that runs from the Beatles through the most innovative of jazz masters like Sun Ra, Coltrane, and Miles, and on to rock iconoclasts like Beefheart and Zappa, Benzola synthesizes all his influences to produce music that rarely sounds identifiably like any of them... even when - as we shall see - he is paying tribute to them.For spacerockers there is much to be enjoyed here. Yes, Benzola's music is rooted in jazz, but there is nothing standard about it. Much of the synth work can compete on the freaky-meter with the best of Hawkwind or any of your other favorites. The music is a total solo effort with all music composed by Benzola and all keyboards and percussion performed by himself.-Jerry Kranitz; Aural Innovations"Suffice it to say that you're not going to chuck an Amanita Music release into your shopping basket the next time you're at Target or (hiss)Wal-Mart. This is not Beer and Lifestyle Music(r). What it is, is intricate and, if you're in the right frame of mind, tremendously involving. At the risk of offending Amanita sole honcho Joseph Benzola, this is the most accessible Amanita release to date. The a-side, "The Sound of One Hand Clapping", is a percussive tour-de-force. Though I imagine "Sound" is largely improvised, the use of bamboo flutes, tuned bells and other instruments creates a concrete sonic environment reminiscent of some sort of Eastern festival. The transitions from quiet solemnity to otherworldly jubilance are quite striking (and there's a lot going on at lower frequencies, too, so this definitely deserves a listen on a good stereo). The b-side, "Portraits of the Dead", is an eight-sequence paean to Benzola's departed musical heroes/influences. These include Kurt Cobain and Jaco Pastorius ("Kurt and Jaco are dancing in Heaven", a riveting piece heavily influenced by Tibetan religion and instrumentation), Sun Ra, Miles Davis, John Cage, Edgar Varese and Thelonious Monk. None of these works are "rip-offs," but rather are tributes, often to stylistic intent rather than style itself. I fear I'm not cosmopolitan enough to appreciate some of the subtleties, but I'm not sure it matters. This is the best Amanita release I've heard -- indeed, I'd love to hear what would happen if Benzola teamed up with some of the Extreme roster (Mo Boma, Fetish Park, etc.). If you want to be really challenged, hit the Amanita website and pick this one up." George Zahora; Splendid Magazine

Location Oakdale, NY - USA

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