Biography
The career of any bassist tends to be framed around the rhythm sections to which he contributed, as though the instrument carried no purpose beyond cashing royalty statements. In Joseph Rupert Benjamin’s instance, a serious jazz library can scarcely avoid including several recordings that spotlight this alert and reliable player. Although most celebrated for the thoughtful yet understated support he supplied to bandleader Duke Ellington, Benjamin never confined himself to mainstream jazz settings. When he sought greater propulsion he joined forces with Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Hank Garland, yet he could also supply the hushed swing demanded by Dave Brubeck.
After early stints in the large ensembles of Artie Shaw, Fletcher Henderson, and Sy Oliver, the bassist became indispensable to numerous small-group rhythm teams. His command of dynamics enabled him to underpin both boisterous horn improvisers and delicate singers. During an extended association with Louis Armstrong, for whom he recorded extensively, Benjamin found himself the target of an offhand remark by pianist Marian McPartland, who told Satchmo she had never played with the bassist before. McPartland later remembered that “Armstrong managed to make something suggestive out of that; he had the whole band dying of laughing....”
Benjamin’s collaborators represented the highest echelon of jazz. While with the Ellington orchestra his drummers included the capable Rocky White and the earthy Rufus Jones. Ellington had long employed outstanding bassists such as Wellman Braud, Jimmy Blanton, and John Lamb, and he frequently composed extended solo passages for the instrument. Two such features appear on the Togo Brava and New Orleans Suite albums, both of which reward close listening. An online discography praises Benjamin’s work on these sessions by noting that he “is not flashy, in a totally supportive role just playing the walking line. But does he ever get in the pocket!” Segments featuring the bassist and drums from Togo Brava have since been sampled extensively by acid-jazz and drum-and-bass DJs.
Among the classic small-group dates that feature Benjamin is the Brubeck quartet completed by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and drummer Joe Morello. Less widely circulated yet musically superior are the Mal Waldron trio recordings made with drummer Jo Jones. The same judgment applies to country-and-western guitarist Hank Garland’s sole authentic jazz album, Jazz Winds from a New Direction, which paired the seventeen-year-old vibraphonist Gary Burton with the Morello–Benjamin rhythm team.
During the 1950s Sarah Vaughan employed Benjamin, drummer Roy Haynes, and pianist John Malachi for such classics as “Shulie a Bop” and “I Cried for You.” The rapport with Haynes persisted; the drummer repeatedly hired Benjamin for his own groups, a clear endorsement of the bassist’s timekeeping. Another standout session is the early Rahsaan Roland Kirk album Kirk’s Work, which placed Benjamin alongside organist Brother Jack McDuff and drummer Art Taylor. Benjamin died in the early 1970s while still residing in New Jersey. Much of his professional life had been spent touring, and any account of those years is largely a catalog of the distinguished ensembles in which he participated—an approach he would doubtless have preferred.
After early stints in the large ensembles of Artie Shaw, Fletcher Henderson, and Sy Oliver, the bassist became indispensable to numerous small-group rhythm teams. His command of dynamics enabled him to underpin both boisterous horn improvisers and delicate singers. During an extended association with Louis Armstrong, for whom he recorded extensively, Benjamin found himself the target of an offhand remark by pianist Marian McPartland, who told Satchmo she had never played with the bassist before. McPartland later remembered that “Armstrong managed to make something suggestive out of that; he had the whole band dying of laughing....”
Benjamin’s collaborators represented the highest echelon of jazz. While with the Ellington orchestra his drummers included the capable Rocky White and the earthy Rufus Jones. Ellington had long employed outstanding bassists such as Wellman Braud, Jimmy Blanton, and John Lamb, and he frequently composed extended solo passages for the instrument. Two such features appear on the Togo Brava and New Orleans Suite albums, both of which reward close listening. An online discography praises Benjamin’s work on these sessions by noting that he “is not flashy, in a totally supportive role just playing the walking line. But does he ever get in the pocket!” Segments featuring the bassist and drums from Togo Brava have since been sampled extensively by acid-jazz and drum-and-bass DJs.
Among the classic small-group dates that feature Benjamin is the Brubeck quartet completed by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and drummer Joe Morello. Less widely circulated yet musically superior are the Mal Waldron trio recordings made with drummer Jo Jones. The same judgment applies to country-and-western guitarist Hank Garland’s sole authentic jazz album, Jazz Winds from a New Direction, which paired the seventeen-year-old vibraphonist Gary Burton with the Morello–Benjamin rhythm team.
During the 1950s Sarah Vaughan employed Benjamin, drummer Roy Haynes, and pianist John Malachi for such classics as “Shulie a Bop” and “I Cried for You.” The rapport with Haynes persisted; the drummer repeatedly hired Benjamin for his own groups, a clear endorsement of the bassist’s timekeeping. Another standout session is the early Rahsaan Roland Kirk album Kirk’s Work, which placed Benjamin alongside organist Brother Jack McDuff and drummer Art Taylor. Benjamin died in the early 1970s while still residing in New Jersey. Much of his professional life had been spent touring, and any account of those years is largely a catalog of the distinguished ensembles in which he participated—an approach he would doubtless have preferred.
Albums