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Bennie Maupin

Bennie Maupin is best-known for his atmospheric bass clarinet playing on Miles Davis' classic Bitches Brew album, as well as other Miles Davis recordings such as Big Fun, Jack Johnson, and On the Corner. He was a founding member of Herbie Hancock's seminal band The Headhunters, as well as a performer and composer in Hancock's influential Mwandishi band. Born in 1940, Maupin started playing clarinet, later adding saxophone, flute, and, most notably, the bass clarinet to his formidable arsenal of woodwind instruments. Upon moving to New York in 1962, he freelanced with groups led by Marion Brown, Pharoah Sanders, and Chick Corea, and played regularly with Roy Haynes and Horace Silver. He also recorded with McCoy Tyner, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Jack DeJohnette, Andrew Hill, Eddie Henderson, and Woody Shaw, to name only a few.

Maupin's own discography as a leader includes a well-received recording for ECM Records, The Jewel in The Lotus (1974), Slow Traffic to the Right (1976) and Moonscapes, both on Mercury Records (1978), and Driving While Black on Intuition (1998). The instrumentation of Maupin's current group, The Bennie Maupin Ensemble harkens back to the tradition of great saxophone-bass-drum trios, such as the group led by Sonny Rollins with Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones.

The Bennie Maupin Ensemble came about as a result of Maupin's continuing musical association and friendship with drummer/percussionist Michael Stephans. Internationally renowned bassist Derek Oles was a natural addition because of his open approach to interpretation and improvisation, as well as his masterful bass playing. In early 2003 world class percussionist Munyungo Jackson joined the group, and the Bennie Maupin Ensemble was born. The 2006 release, Penumbra, is a profound musical statement by an important jazz artist who is at the pinnacle of his artistic powers. Penumbra is dedicated to the memory of Lyle "Spud" Murphy.

While echoes of the great John Coltrane can be heard in Maupin's work, one can also discern the influences of Yusef Lateef, Sonny Rollins, and Eric Dolphy, as well as Maupin's contemporaries like Wayne Shorter and the late Joe Henderson. Maupin's approach to his music is intentional and profound, yet alive in the interpretation of the moment. He maintains active performing and teaching careers in Europe, and the U.S. Bennie Maupin currently resides in the Los Angeles area.

The Electric Years Box Set

by Mike Jurkovic
November 9, 2023

In a year that has brought us a true bounty of previously unheard majesty including Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy (Impulse!), and Bill Evans; Treasures: Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings from Denmark (1965-1969), (Elemental Music) it is only fitting that Miles Davis get his due. And in a very, very big way. Seared into modern memory, modern art, the music presented on the gloriously massive, eleven LP set Miles Davis: The Electric Years ...

The Vinyl Post

Blackstone Legacy

by C. Andrew Hovan
November 9, 2023

When trumpeter Woody Shaw passed away in 1989, he left behind a wealth of amazing music, notwithstanding the realized sadness inherent in wondering what more he could have accomplished had he lived a longer life. Back in the mid '60s, Shaw was ubiquitous as a sideman recording iconic albums with the likes of Larry Young, Horace Silver, Chick Corea, Art Blakey, and McCoy Tyner. Despite common misconceptions, Shaw led his first date as a leader in December of 1965, which ...

Album Review

Jack DeJohnette: Sorcery

by Rob Garratt
September 18, 2023

Which Jack DeJohnette is best known? The subtle sticksmith at the heart of Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio, perhaps? Probably the heavyweight hitter driving electric-era Miles Davis' '70s sonic brew. Maybe the percussive upstart propelling Charles Lloyd to crossover flower-power fame? Or even the fearless bandleader behind the ever-thrilling Special Edition band ... At age 81, DeJohnette can (still) fairly claim to be the most in-demand jazz drummer on the planet. But even the most studious acolyte ...

Album Review

Jack DeJohnette: Sorcery

by Scott Gudell
August 7, 2023

Jack DeJohnette gets around. The Chicago born drummer was drawn to R&B and bebop in the late 1950s and eventually toyed with a more avant-garde jazz sound when he spent some time with the esoteric Sun Ra. It seems like DeJohnette played in the big leagues almost from the beginning since, by the time he moved to New York City in the mid-1960s, he was teaming up with other monsters of jazz such as Keith Jarrett and Charles Lloyd. Several ...

Radio & Podcasts

A Tribute to Someone

by Patrick Burnette
November 24, 2022

Sometimes “tribute" can be a dirty word in jazz—a sign a project's only justification is a well-known name—a warning that reverence may have trumped inspiration on a record. But it doesn't have to be that way. This episode, the Bastards look at four 2022 releases that each celebrate a towering figure from jazz's past without getting tangled up in its shadow. With dedicatees as varied as Johnny Hodges, Charles Mingus, Yusef Lateef, and Wes Montgomery, things never get in a ...

Album Review

Various Artists: John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop

Read "John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
November 3, 2022

Valuable as both a curated chronicle of jazz history and as high-grade music, John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop: Community, Jazz And Art In The Motor City 1965—1981 comprises around 70 minutes of live recordings by some of Detroit's finest sons along with an informative 24-page booklet. Among the musicians are trumpeters Donald Byrd and Charles Moore, reeds player Bennie Maupin and, resident in the city in the mid 1960s, pianist Stanley Cowell. The backstory: The Artists ...

Album Review

Bennie Maupin & Adam Rudolph: Symphonic Tone Poem For Brother Yusef

Read "Symphonic Tone Poem For Brother Yusef" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
May 31, 2022

Had the multi-reed player Yusef Lateef still been alive in 2020, he would have been celebrating his 100th birthday. Sadly, Lateef passed seven years earlier. But 93 years is a good span for a jazz musician, especially one of Lateef's generation, who came of age in time to cut his professional teeth in swing bands. Lateef went on contribute to bop--he was a member of Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1949--and then to hard bop. In the mid 1950s, ...

Video / DVD

5 Videos: Bennie Maupin

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 13, 2019

On Monday, I posted about Stanley Cowell, one of jazz's greatest living pianists. Today, I'm focusing on Bennie Maupin, another living jazz legend who doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Maupin is perhaps best known for recording with Horace Silver (Serenade to a Soul Sister), Miles Davis (Bitches Brew) and Herbie Hancock (Headhunters, Thrust). Here are five videos featuring Maupin on a range of reed and woodwind instruments: Here's Maupin with pianist Horace Silver in Rotterdam in 1968 with Randy ...
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Recording

The Bennie Maupin Ensemble - Penumbra (2006)

Source: Something Else!
October 2, 2011

By Mark Saleski Back in the dark ages (read: before the Internet) I spent a fair amount of time searching out new music by paying very close attention to the listings of my local public and classical radio stations. On any given week night there might be broadcasts of solo works, string quartets, and all manner of chamber ensemble and full-on orchestral madness. That was how I discovered David Ocker. Specifically, Ocker's solo bass clarinet version of the 4th movement ...
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Performance / Tour

Forgotten Series: Bennie Maupin - The Jewel in the Lotus (1974)

Source: Something Else!
April 3, 2011

By Mark Saleski Part of the genius of Miles Davis (aside from the incredible compositions, insanely great trumpet work, and spooky ability to play just the right notes) was his amazing talent for selecting band members. The list is seemingly endless and the branches extend over an impressive subsection of modern jazz: John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Tony Williams, and on it goes. When Miles headed toward the electric side of ...
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193

Recording

Back to Roots, Ahead to the Future Pop and Jazz Best

Source: Michael Ricci
December 21, 2008

The best of this year’s rock, pop and jazz albums include releases by Metallica, Bennie Maupin, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

2. BENNIE MAUPIN Early Reflections (Cryptogramophone). The next chapter in the recent return of this saxophonist and bass clarinetist, who enlivened jazz during the 1970s with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. He’s now working with a Polish acoustic jazz trio, making patient music with open space and strong melodies.

4. RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA Kinsmen (Pi). This Indian- American jazz saxophonist ...
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132

Interview

Bennie Maupin Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
September 12, 2006

Bennie Maupin may be a multi-instrumentalist, but he's best-known as the bass clarinetist on albums including Miles Davis' classic Bitches Brew and Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters.

His own discography as a leader is small, but he made a welcome return this year with the Cryptogramophone release, Penumbra. A more intimate, acoustic set, it features Maupin with bassist Darek Oles, drummer Michael Stephans and longtime associate, percussionist Daryl Munyungo Jackson.

AAJ New York contributor Rex Butters had the opportunity to speak ...
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