| David Benoit | |
| Birth Name: | David Bryan Benoit |
| Birth Date: | 18 August 1953 |
| Birth Place: | Bakersfield, California, U.S. |
| Genre: | Jazz, smooth jazz, easy listening |
| Occupation: | Musician, composer, producer |
| Instrument: | Piano |
| Years Active: | 1976–present |
| Label: | AVI, GRP, Peak |
David Bryan Benoit (born August 18, 1953) is an American jazz pianist, composer and producer, based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Benoit has charted over 25 albums since 1980, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards.[1] He is also music director for the Pacific Vision Youth Symphony (previously known as the Asia America Symphony Orchestra) and the Asia America Youth Orchestra. Furthermore, crediting Vince Guaraldi as an inspiration, Benoit has participated both as performer and music director for the later animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip, such as the feature film, The Peanuts Movie, restoring Guaraldi's musical signature to the franchise.
David Bryan Benoit was born in Bakersfield, California, on August 18, 1953.[2] [3] He studied piano at age 13 with Marya Cressy Wright and continued his training with Abraham Fraser, who was the pianist for Arturo Toscanini. He attended Mira Costa High School.[4] He focused on theory and composition at El Camino College, studying orchestration with Donald Nelligan, and later took film scoring classes taught by Donald Ray at UCLA. His education in music conducting began with Heiichiro Ohyama, assistant conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic, and continued with Jan Robertson, head of the conducting department at UCLA. He worked with Jeffrey Schindler, Music Director for the UC Santa Barbara symphony orchestra.
He began his career as a musical director and conductor for Lainie Kazan in 1976, before moving on to similar roles with singer/actresses Ann-Margret and Connie Stevens.
His GRP Records debut album, Freedom at Midnight (1987), made it to number 5 on Billboards Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.[5] Benoit also says that it was his favorite album to produce, because it was when "everything came together," as he stated in an interview on SmoothViews.com. An earlier "live in the studio" (direct record, no mixing or overdubs) album on Spindletop Records, This Side Up (previously 1986), was re-released on the GRP label.
Waiting for Spring (1989) made it to number 1 on Billboards Top Jazz Albums chart. Shadows, from 1991, made it to number 2 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
Out of respect for one of his main influences, Bill Evans, he dedicated his 1992 album Letter to Evan to him.[6]
Many of his songs employ a string section, most notably on his American Landscape (1997) and Orchestral Stories (2005) albums.
In 2000, after the death of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, he released a memorial album titled . Collaborators included the chorus group Take 6, guitarist Marc Antoine and trumpeter Chris Botti. He also scored several "Peanuts" animated television specials, emulating the style of Vince Guaraldi. The album made it to number 2 on the Top Jazz Albums chart. An earlier cover of Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy", recorded in 1985 for the aforementioned album This Side Up, enjoyed notable radio airplay and helped to launch the smooth jazz genre.
Benoit has arranged, conducted, and performed music for many popular pop and jazz artists, including Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons (he was involved with the band in its formative stages, and they often appeared on each other's albums), Kenny Loggins, Michael Franks, Patti Austin, Dave Koz, Kenny Rankin, Faith Hill, David Lanz, Cece Winans, David Pack, David Sanborn, The Walt Disney Company and Brian McKnight. He paid homage to one of his chief influences, Leonard Bernstein, by playing, arranging, and performing on The Songs of West Side Story, an all-star project produced by David Pack which achieved gold sales status. Benoit contributed to the Rippingtons's debut album, Moonlighting, which was named the most influential contemporary jazz album of all time by Jazziz magazine.[7]
The Benoit/Freeman Project album was given 4 stars by AllMusic, the highest rating Benoit has received from the service, and the album made it to number 2 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart from Billboard.[8]
Benoit's music can be heard during The Weather Channel's "Local on the 8s" segments. His version of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Vince Guaraldi is included on the album (2008). In May 2011, Benoit began hosting a morning program at jazz radio station KKJZ in Long Beach, California.[9]
Benoit has performed at the White House for three U.S. Presidents: Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush Sr. Other dignitaries he performed for include Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, former Los Angeles mayors Tom Bradley and James Hahn, as well as Senator Dick Durbin.
| Year | Title | Label | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Heavier Than Yesterday | AVI/Blue Moon | ||
| 1980 | Can You Imagine | AVI/Blue Moon | ||
| 1982 | Stages | AVI/Blue Moon | ||
| 1983 | Digits | AVI/Blue Moon | ||
| 1983 | Christmastime | AVI/Blue Moon | ||
| 1984 | Waves of Raves | AVI/Blue Moon | ||
| 1985 | This Side Up | Spindletop/En Pointe | ||
| 1986 | Summer | Electric Bird/Intersound | A Re-Recording Of Early Material | |
| 1987 | Freedom at Midnight | |||
| 1988 | Every Step of the Way | GRP | ||
| 1989 | Urban Daydreams | GRP | ||
| 1989 | Waiting for Spring | GRP | ||
| 1990 | Inner Motion | GRP | ||
| 1991 | Shadows | GRP | ||
| 1992 | Letter to Evan | GRP | ||
| 1994 | Shaken Not Stirred | GRP | ||
| 1994 | GRP | |||
| 1995 | soundtrack | |||
| 1996 | Remembering Christmas | GRP | ||
| 1997 | American Landscape | GRP | ||
| 1999 | Professional Dreamer | GRP | ||
| 2000 | Great Composers of Jazz | Vertical Jazz/Fine Tune | ||
| 2000 | GRP | |||
| 2002 | Fuzzy Logic | GRP | ||
| 2003 | Right Here, Right Now | GRP/Universal/Verve | ||
| 2004 | ||||
| 2005 | Orchestral Stories | Peak/Universal | ||
| 2005 | Concord/Peak | |||
| 2006 | Full Circle | Concord/Peak | ||
| 2006 | Standards | Kind of Blue | Brian Bromberg and Gregg Bissonette | |
| 2008 | Heroes | Concord/Peak | ||
| 2008 | Jazz for Peanuts | Concord/Peak | ||
| 2010 | Earthglow | Concord/Heads Up/Peak | ||
| 2012 | Conversation | |||
| 2015 | 2 in Love | with Jane Monheit | ||
| 2015 | Believe | Concord | David Benoit Trio, f. Jane Monheit & All American Boys Chorus | |
| 2017 | Steinway | |||
| 2017 | So Nice | Shanachie Records | with Marc Antoine | |
| 2019 | David Benoit and Friends | Shanachie Records | ||
| 2020 | It's a David Benoit Christmas! | Steinway | ||
| 2022 | Shanachie Records |