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Benjamin Boone

Saxophonist-composer Benjamin Boone’s 2018/2019 Origin Records “Poetry of Jazz” releases, collaborations with the late U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize recipient Philip Levine, were recognized as milestone poetry/music projects. Voted the #3 “Best Album of 2018” in DownBeat Magazine’s 83rd annual Readers Poll (just behind Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis), praised in leading musical and literary publications, and featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” The Poetry of Jazz established Boone as one of the most compelling voices among contemporary artists exploring the intersections between poetry and music.

He builds upon this foundation on his 2020 Origin Records album, The Poets Are Gathering, encompasses nearly a dozen writers exploring themes that thrum with the urgency of a protest march. The poetry addresses ripped-from- the-front-page topics such as police murder, racism, immigration, poverty, inequity, and mass shootings. As Gene Seymour writes in his extensive liner notes, “There are incantations and supplications to be found here. Also: elegies and headlines, howls and mantras, reveries and outbursts. They instruct and affirm.”

Poets include Tyehimba Jess (Pulitzer Prize), Patricia Smith (LA Times Book Award/National Slam Poetry Champion), Juan Felipe Herrera (U.S. Poet Laureate), and Edward Hirsch (MacArthur)—intertwining their work with that of 20 musicians, including pianist Kenny Werner, guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Corcoran Holt, and drummer Ari Hoenig.

Panoramic in scope and kaleidoscopic in vision, The Poets Are Gathering bursts with vivid imagery, exuberant emotions, exacting diagnoses, sinuous melodies, and thoughtful interplay. The album’s diverse voices offer perspectives on the world that is the United States in 2020. The social, cultural, political, and emotional turmoil of the moment is a recurring theme. In “Against Silence,” Tyehimba Jess offers a panorama of American violence and its toll, speaking against indiscriminate and unjust murder, both by police officers and drones, while Patricia Smith’s “That’s My Son There” condenses that panorama, providing a raw, intimate examination of the horrific and needless pain caused by these murders. Haitian American poet Patrick Sylvain twice meditates on immigration, portraying both the fraught journey and arrival (“Marooning”) and what it leaves behind (“Ports of Sorrow”). However, there is also room for less overtly political expression, whether in T.R. Hummer’s “The Sun One (Homage to Sun Ra),” Edward Hirsch’s nostalgic reflection “Branch Library,” or Marisol Baca’s cosmic abstraction “Spiral.”

The album’s far-flung vision isn’t surprising considering that the recording process was interrupted by Boone’s year- long music-rich Fulbright Fellowship in Ghana (an experience he documented with the Ghana Jazz Collective on their 2020 album Joy). The culture shock he experienced upon his return to Fresno was magnified by the unmistakable political and societal tensions he saw in the country, and he made sure the album reflected that reality. “I am humbled and honored to be able to collaborate with such marvelous poets, who so eloquently speak the truth about this country and of existence,” says Boone. “I am touched by their profound messages.”

Born October 19, 1963 in Statesville, North Carolina, Benjamin Boone grew up in an intellectually stimulating family and could have devoted himself to any number of pursuits. He concentrated on the saxophone and improvising from an early age, but was also interested in composition. “Being the younger brother of four overachieving older brothers, I was always drawn to interdisciplinary projects,” he says. He studied composition at the University of Tennessee and went on to get a Master of Music degree from Boston University and a Doctorate from the University of South Carolina, studying with heavyweights such as Bernard Rands, Gordon “Dick” Goodwin, Charles Fussell, John A. Lennon, and Jerry Coker. For his doctoral dissertation, Boone delved into the little-studied area of the musical analysis of speech, research cited in Oxford’s New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. As a Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellow, he conducted musical research in the former Soviet republic of Moldova. His interest in poetry is a natural outgrowth from his longstanding interest in language, cognition, and music. He traces his fascination with the music of spoken language to a hearing issue “that makes it hard for me to understand words,” he says. “When I hear people speak, I hear it as music. Listening to blues musicians speak, I hear blues lines, and my fascination with spoken language informed this project.” As a composer, Boone’s music has won 18 awards/honors and appears on some 30 CDs. It’s been featured on film soundtracks, and has been the subject of multiple national broadcasts on National Public Radio.

Awards

Boone's works have garnered over eighteen national/international honors and awards from the International Society of Contemporary Music, the Olympia International Prize for Composition, Billboard Magazine, the National Association of Composers USA, New Music USA, The American Music Center, the American Composer’s Forum, ASCAP Morton Gould Competition, Meet the Composer/Southeastern Arts Federation, the Southeastern Composers' League Competition, the Delius Foundation Competition, Tennessee Arts Council Composition Fellowship, North Carolina Composition Fellowship, and Boston University Composition Competition, among others. In addition, Boone served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to the Ghana during 2017-2018, and in 2005 he served as a U.S. Fulbright Senior Specialist to the Republic of Moldova. At California State University Fresno, Boone has received the university's highest award, the “Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching,” as well as the university's second highest honor, the “President’s Award of Excellence,” as well as the “Provost Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities,” and the “University Faculty Spirit of Service Award.”

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Benjamin Boone: Caught in the Rhythm

Read "Caught in the Rhythm" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
September 28, 2023

The connection between poetry and jazz music is a delicate one. It has been documented so infrequently, in performance and recordings, that one still conjures the flicker of an image of Jack Kerouac reading in some dark Greenwich Village cafe with Steve Allen or Zoot Sims, surrounded by beret-wearing, cappuccino-sipping beatniks. The work of Fresno-based saxophonist Benjamin Boone has assisted in widening that view through four albums recorded for the Origin Records label, including the fourth, Caught in the Rhythm ...

Album Review

Benjamin Boone: The Poets Are Gathering

Read "The Poets Are Gathering" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
December 31, 2020

Saxophonist Benjamin Boone continues his ambitious foray into jazz and poetry, this time recruiting an impressive cadre of poets for his aptly entitled release, The Poets are Gathering (Origin, 2020). The union of poetry and jazz has never been so powerfly presented, reflecting the past year of the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement, the universal role of the poet, and the power of art and voice to raise awareness and inspire change. The album employs the likes of US Poet ...

Interview

Benjamin Boone: The Poetry of Jazz and the Ghanaian Connection

by Duncan Heining
June 10, 2020

So, Down Beat picks your record, The Poetry of Jazz, as one of its year-end top three. You put out a second volume, which is similarly well-received. Now here's the conundrum. Do you lock into the niche and follow up with more of the same? Or do you go for broke with that program masterpiece you always dreamed of? If you're saxophonist-composer Benjamin Boone, the answer's neither of the above. Instead, Boone has opted for a set with ...

Album Review

Benjamin Boone: Joy

Read "Joy" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
May 20, 2020

Benjamin Boone's set with this band born and grown in Ghana is a genuine cross-cultural jazz Joy. The seeds of Joy were planted when composer-saxophonist Boone spent a year as a US Fulbright Scholar in Ghana in sabbatical from his professorship at California State University (Fresno), to study the country's music and musical traditions. The music Boone found made him feel at home: “These guys know American jazz inside and out--but with a definite Ghanaian twist," he explains. ...

Album Review

Benjamin Boone with the Ghana Jazz Collective: Joy

by Dan Bilawsky
March 8, 2020

When saxophonist Benjamin Boone took a sabbatical from his teaching position at California State University Fresno to travel to Ghana as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, he envisioned a yearlong educational immersion in the music, arts and broader culture of the region. What he couldn't have imagined, which became reality, was connecting with a set of Accra-based musicians who would welcome him into the fold as a band mate. Eager to document this newfound partnership before he returned to America, Boone ...

Album Review

Benjamin Boone: The Poetry of Jazz

Read "The Poetry of Jazz" reviewed by Duncan Heining

by Duncan Heining
October 27, 2018

Lenny Bruce might have skewered it with his skit, “Psychopathia Sexualis." Mike Myers' mildly misogynist poet might have parodied it in the movie I Married an Axe Murderer (1993). It has been dismissed as a late-fifties fad associated with the Beats. And, yet, the desire of poets and jazz musicians to combine their art forms has proven surprisingly durable. Sometimes, the practice is just plain embarrassing and made worse by the reality that those involved, like the man ...

Album Review

Benjamin Boone: The Poetry of Jazz

Read "The Poetry of Jazz" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
March 20, 2018

Benjamin Boone's The Poetry Of Jazz could easily have been titled The Jazz of Poetry because of the almost interchangeable nature of the terms. The composer/saxophonist's vision to put music to the U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine's prose is a reminder to listeners that jazz was birthed by the common man, and is not to be kept in an ivory tower.Both professors at Cal State Fresno, Levine and Boone had performed together before, and the saxophonist had used ...

Recording

Saxophonist-composer Benjamin Boone Adds New Layers To His Experiments With Poetry And Jazz On 'Caught In The Rhythm,' Set For September 15 Release On Origin Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
August 9, 2023

Benjamin Boone’s large-scale project fusing jazz with contemporary poetry reaches its deepest, richest point yet on Caught in the Rhythm, to be released September 15 on Origin Records. The fourth album in the saxophonist-composer’s series matches his remarkable assemblage of revered poets—including Edward Hirsch, Tyehimba Jess, and Patrick Sylvain—with an equally remarkable group of jazz improvisers that include Ambrose Akinmusire, Greg Osby, Kenny Werner, and Ben Monder. Boone’s fascination and ingenuity with poetry and jazz are well established. The two-volume ...
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Recording

Saxophonist Benjamin Boone Broadens His Explorations Of Poetry & Jazz With "The Poets Are Gathering," Due Oct. 16 From Origin Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
September 29, 2020

Benjamin Boone takes his fascination with the merger of poetry and jazz to stunning new heights on The Poets Are Gathering, set for an October 16 release on Origin Records. True to its title, the album finds the saxophonist-composer assembling a large group of acclaimed American poets—11 in all, including Tyehimba Jess (Pulitzer Prize), Patricia Smith (LA Times Book Award/National Slam Poetry Champion), Juan Felipe Herrera (U.S. Poet Laureate), and Edward Hirsch (MacArthur)—intertwining their work with that of 20 musicians, ...
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Recording

Saxophonist-Composer Benjamin Boone Collaborates With Accra-Based Ghana Jazz Collective On New Album "Joy," Due March 20

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
January 10, 2020

Saxophonist-composer Benjamin Boone’s “The Poetry of Jazz," a visionary collaboration with U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine, was praised in leading musical and literary publications, featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, and voted the #3 Best Album of 2018 in DownBeat’s 83rd annual Readers Poll. Boone documents an equally compelling collaboration, this time from his year as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Ghana, on his newest project “Joy," set for a March 20th release on Origin Records. This album, the fifth ...
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Recording

Second Volume Of "The Poetry Of Jazz," Much-Lauded Collaboration Between Saxophonist/Composer Benjamin Boone & The Late U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine, To Be Released Jan. 18

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
December 13, 2018

Saxophonist/composer Benjamin Boone’s The Poetry of Jazz, a collaboration with the late U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine, was recognized as a milestone spoken word/jazz project immediately upon its release last March. Praised in leading musical and literary publications, featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, and voted the #3 Jazz Album of 2018 in DownBeat’s annual Readers Poll, The Poetry of Jazz established Boone as one of the most captivating and compelling voices among contemporary artists exploring the intersections between poetry ...
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Recording

"The Poetry Of Jazz," A Collaboration Between Saxophonist/Composer Benjamin Boone & The Late Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Philip Levine, Due March 16 From Origin Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
February 1, 2018

Musicians and poets have been inspiring each other for millennia, with collaborations in San Francisco and New York between beat poets and beboppers during the 1950s a particularly memorable recent chapter. On the forthcoming The Poetry of Jazz, which Origin Records will release on March 16, saxophonist-composer Benjamin Boone and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Levine make an invaluable contribution to the jazz-and-poetry canon and set a standard for the genre that will be hard to surpass in the future. Fellow ...
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***PRAISE FOR 2018’s “THE POETRY OF JAZZ,” ORIGIN RECORDS (82754)***

“An album of unmistakable importance – one could say of historic importance.” ~ UK Vibe Magazine, 5/5 review, April 21, 2018.

“The composition seems so natural…Poetry and jazz have long been great partners, but ‘The Poetry of Jazz’ offers a fresher take…one not to be missed.” ~ The Paris Review, “Editor’s Pick,” March 23, 2018.

“A terrific record– the best of its sort mixing poetry and jazz.” ~ NPR’s Tom Vitale.

“You hold in your hands jazz history. This is a CD that must be heard!” ~ Donald Brown, jazz pianist/producer.

***PRAISE FOR 2018’s “THE POETRY OF JAZZ,” ORIGIN RECORDS (82754)***

“An album of unmistakable importance – one could say of historic importance.” ~ UK Vibe Magazine, 5/5 review, April 21, 2018.

“A terrific record– the best of its sort mixing poetry and jazz.” ~ NPR’s Tom Vitale.

“You hold in your hands jazz history. This is a CD that must be heard!” ~ Donald Brown, jazz pianist/producer.

“The Poetry of Jazz (Origin)—demonstrates how well carefully crafted language and improvised music complement each other.” ~ New York City Jazz Record, August 2018.

“And it is Boone’s wit — as well as Levine’s — that lights up “Gin,” whose bebop melody is shared by saxophone and voice. Some of the lines here make me laugh. Trying to explain the appeal of gin, which tastes so bad yet is so addictive to their elders, a youngster posits that it must be the result of self-flagellation. Levine ironically comments: “He was very well read for a kid of 14 in public schools.” Lurking in the poem’s humor — an acute sense of the tragedy of wasted lives… trumpeter Harrell has never sounded more ravishing — or more romantic… It’s wonderful that this unexpected session happened and that it worked out so well.” ~ Michael Ullman, Arts Fuse, March 13, 2018.

“These guest artists [Chris Potter, Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Tom Harrell] might be the attraction for the jazz listener, and Levine for the poetry fan, but that would miss the extraordinary music both written and performed by Boone and several excellent sidemen.” ~Mark Corroto, All About Jazz, March 20, 2018.

“Gorgeous record. My words couldn’t do it justice.” ~Mark Corroto, All About Jazz

“A fascinating mélange of music and poetry… an engaging fusion of two terrific artists…The poetry is amazingly expressive and the music ties in wonderfully.” ~ Dave Rogers (Professor Bebop), WTJU – UVA

“Benjamin Boone knows how to get inside the poem, Phil Levine’s inscrutable and imploding loops of poetics, his observations of the seen and unseen. Boone knows Where the thing called poetry lives, an ocelot among the waters, a sky-shaped Rain God that flares down upon us. He does this with a myriad of instruments, with human breath chiseling and burning through brass and string, reeds and skin and hands and resin. He is one of the very few that can lure Phil’s poetry-magic and call it out and show it to the world… Beyond words… up there with the muses.” ~ Juan Felipe Herrera, Poet Laureate of the United States.

“The innovative saxophonist Benjamin Boone delivers a special collaboration,” ~ Zeal NYC, March 9, 2018. “Clever and Beat Generation session of the 21st Century… The modern Greenwich Village and Left Bank of jazz.” ~ Jazz Weekly, May 17, 2018.

“A hipster top ten.” ~ Chris Spector, Midwest Record, December 29, 2018.

“Fantastic CD… the absolute best jazz/poetry song I’ve heard (yet) in 2018… just SUPERB work here that gets a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) rating of a (perfect) 5.00 – that means, of course, that it also gets my “PICK” for “best jazz/poetry album.” ~Rotcod Zzaj, Review, Improvijazzation Nation The Normal School: A Literary Magazine, “Word Music: A Discussion with Brian Turner and Benjamin Boone,” June 12, 2018.

“Unpretentious, ego-less desire to communicate the relevant poetry’s feelings and moods… Boone flies on soprano sax… an elegy and homage to Philip Levine… it brings me indescribable happiness," Brilliant Corners: A Journal of Jazz and Literature, “A song that would tell the story of all these things together,” Winter 2018.

***PRAISE FOR 2019’s “THE POETRY OF JAZZ - VOLUME TWO,” ORIGIN RECORDS (82772)***

“Visually resonant… lovingly produced.” ~ Bradley Bambarger, Downbeat, January 10, 2019.

“Boone provides aching saxophone lines…Sterling arrangements… better than perfect… The music is full of life and colour, …very much die for…” ~ Raul da Gama, Jazz da Gamba, June 1, 2019.

“In the 26 years of running UK Vibe, and the 35 years of buying and enjoying music, these albums of yours have reached deeper than most in that time. It just feels so real.” ~ Steven Williams Heath, Founder, UK VIBE “… emotionally direct, unpretentious and irascibly open-hearted …” ~ San Francisco Classical Voice, October 13, 2019.

“Rarely found depth, sophistication, and listenability… their efforts work beautifully… It will likely take a long time before someone does it this well again. Meanwhile, musicians could benefit from listening to this album for what it can tell them about the inner core of their music… Levine, Boone and the group show us by example a little of what we go through in our lives and its intimate connection to the creative process of jazz.” ~Victor L. Shermer, All About Jazz, January 21, 2019.

“A vivid snapshot of an important piece of American history wonderfully captured on record with the foresight of Boone … one is drawn in with a rare and intimate immediacy … We’d better make the most of it as there won’t be any more where this came from.” ~ UK Vibe Magazine, 5/5 review, July 25, 2019. “Some of it [this CD] is just so hip it will flat domino you…remarkable…amazing stuff…” ~Dave Rogers (Professor Bebop) WTJU – UVA

“A singular collaboration.” ~ Jazz Times, April 25, 2019.

“It has been a banner time for high-profile jazz-poetry collaborations. Last year saw the release of Matt Wilson’s long-planned tribute to Carl Sandburg, Nicole Mitchell’s teaming with Haki Madhubuti and Jane Ira Bloom’s musical refractions of Emily Dickinson’s terse verse, among other projects. But now there is The Poetry of Jazz, providing us with the revelatory phenomenon of the wordsmith being the heppest musical cat on the scene.”~Jazz Times feature, April 25, 2019.

“A stunning piece… celebrate this brilliant collaboration.” ~ Richard Kamins, Step Tempest Praise for 2020’s “Joy,” Origin Records (82800)

“When you think of a Fulbright Scholar heading off to deepest darkest Africa, do you picture a white boy that understands funk? Pairing here with his pals, Ghana Jazz Collective, the two cultures collide in a jolly mash up that proves once again that music is the universal language and how easy it is to resolve any conflict if you really want to. Upbeat, badass stuff that’s a gasser throughout, it’s too bad more white boys can’t have this much fun— even without having to go to Ghana. This is creative music that will stand the test of time.” ~Chris Spector, Midwest Record

“On the two volumes of The Poetry of Jazz… [Boone] demonstrated his ability to fluently interact with and reply to a spoken text. On Joy, Boone expands his penchant for conversation… [with] a West African lilt but the language is all-the-way jazz… Particularly impressive is Curtain of Light… dramatic and explicit.” ~ Hobart Taylor, Downbeat Magazine, 3.5-star review, April 2020.

“Wonderful merging of cultures… great title tune, “Joy”… Drummer Frank Kissi is a master of the polyrhythms that pulsate under the album’s tracks. Bassist Bright Osei gives a fresh, thumping, funky twist to Herbie Hancock’s classic, “Maiden Voyage.” Pianist Victor Dey Jr. and saxophonists Boone and Bernard Ayisa shine throughout. Vocalist Sandra Huson sings gorgeously on Boone’s tune “Without You,” but her more intriguing contribution is a frenetic vocalese on Boone’s wild composition “Slam.” ~ Ron Netsky, Rochester City Newspaper, 3/25/20. “Boone’s colleagues… prove to be polyglot performers equally conversant in the languages of funk, post- bop, swing and, of course, African forms… creat[ing] an amalgam that draws from those various traditions and ideals but remains fastened to none of them. The morphing opener, “The Intricacies of Alice,” makes that point better than any song on the album. Shifting gears with incredible precision while also keeping a fixed eye on melodic clarity, it gives pause to admire the handiwork of the well-oiled rhythm section. A soaring, punchy “Maiden Voyage” follows. Boone, sounding like a man possessed, brings the heat, and Ayisa and Dey, in smart contrast, play things on the somewhat sly side…”Slam,” with Huson’s wordless incantations, seems to play to ancient rites and modern- day strife all at once; “Curtain of Light” brings Ethiopian expressionism into the band’s orbit; “The 233 Jazz Bar,” nodding to the venue where these musicians connected, plays to the region’s funkier side; and the Gerry Niewood– penned title track, with Boone gleefully riding the currents, encapsulates the titular spirit.” ~ Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz 4/5 review

“Boone’s colleagues… prove to be polyglot performers equally conversant in the languages of funk, post- bop, swing and, of course, African forms… creat[ing] an amalgam that draws from those various traditions and ideals but remains fastened to none of them. The morphing opener, “The Intricacies of Alice,” makes that point better than any song on the album. Shifting gears with incredible precision while also keeping a fixed eye on melodic clarity, it gives pause to admire the handiwork of the well-oiled rhythm section. A soaring, punchy “Maiden Voyage” follows. Boone, sounding like a man possessed, brings the heat, and Ayisa and Dey, in smart contrast, play things on the somewhat sly side…”Slam,” with Huson’s wordless incantations, seems to play to ancient rites and modern- day strife all at once; “Curtain of Light” brings Ethiopian expressionism into the band’s orbit; “The 233 Jazz Bar,” nodding to the venue where these musicians connected, plays to the region’s funkier side; and the Gerry Niewood– penned title track, with Boone gleefully riding the currents, encapsulates the titular spirit.” ~ Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz 4/5 review

“Genuine cross-cultural jazz Joy… dexterous and powerful rhythm machine… Osei is simply magnificent… room- shaking, finger-popping bass line… steeplechase of saxophone and piano solos… joyful marriage of African and American music… a massive explosion of communal jazz expression, with pianist Dey playing the part of McCoy Tynerto complement Boone’s yowling, John Coltrane-like soprano sax.” ~ All About Jazz, Chris M. Slawecki “Great music.” ~ Jeff Hanley, host of PRX’s syndicated shows “Jazz Happening Now” and “Jazz After Hours” “Wow this album is full of power! I love the dynamics of the songs. I sort of feel like I’m hang-gliding through a mountain range. It’s definitely a strong happy coping mechanism during this time. Thanks for making the music!” ~ Murf Reeves, WWOZ New Orleans

“A superb new album… an excellent new album… I like the album so much… Right up my street…one of the best releases so far this year!” (in may 2020) ~ Ruth Fisher, London’s JazzFM (largest jazz station in London)

“I absolutely love your music! I also truly admire the connections you make in your music…bathed in joy, exuberance and dance…this blend of musicians is a beautiful and energetic sample of the positive energy of music.” Dave Rogers (Professor Bebop) WTJU Charlottesville

“You produce great music!” Ed Smith, Jazz Now” WOWD, Tacoma Park

“Absolutely terrific!” ~ Russ Haines, WWSP, Stevens Point

“Album of the Week…Fun and vibrant… unique mesh of traditional and experimentation.” ~Konstantin Nicholas Rega, In the Clouds (UK)

“The CD transmits Boone’s passionate and melodious alto and soprano saxophones and the amazing technique of the Ghana musicians.” ~ Walker’s, Japanese music magazine.

“The joy and passion of the Ghana Jazz Collective is Infectious (if I dare use that word)” ~ Brad Stone, “The Creative Connection” and “European Jazz Union” radio shows.

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