Ask anyone who’s been keeping up with chart-topping jazz pianists over the last 40 years, and one name will be mentioned repeatedly on that short list: David Benoit. The Laguna Niguel resident, who will open Soka University’s performing arts season with a concert on Sept. 26, is widely recognized as one of the architects of the contemporary smooth jazz genre (a label he accepts with some reservations).
Over his prolific career, Benoit has released more than 40 solo recordings, charted more than 25 albums and earned three Grammy Award nominations. He’s perhaps best known for his championing of the late San Francisco jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi. Benoit’s cover of Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy” helped catapult the smooth jazz format onto mainstream radio. This deep connection to the “Peanuts” universe eventually led Benoit to become the official performer and music director for subsequent “Peanuts” animated specials and films.
Benoit is also a highly respected conductor who has led the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and other prestigious ensembles, and he’s the longtime music director for the Pacific Vision Youth Symphony. Benoit has shared his musical talents widely, frequently performing in Europe and playing at the White House for three U.S. presidents.
At 73 and fully recovered from serious health issues, Benoit continues to shape the Southern California cultural landscape. In addition to his active concert schedule, he hosts a popular local morning radio show on the influential local jazz radio station, KKJZ 88.1 FM.
Culture OC talked to Benoit recently about his life, career, and upcoming concert at Soka University.
Culture OC: Tell us a bit about your upcoming concert. What are we going to be hearing?
EVENT DETAILS
David Benoit: Resonance and Renewal
When: 5 p.m. Sept. 26
Where: Soka Performing Arts Center, 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo
Tickets: $50-$105
More Info: performingarts.soka.edu or 949-480-4278
David Benoit: Well, the concert’s going to be opening with a couple of speeches – one from the surgeon that did my kidney transplant (world-renowned kidney surgeon Jeffrey Veale, head of the kidney transplant program at UCLA). And then I’ll probably speak a little bit. And then we’re going to debut a piece I wrote, a concerto for cello and orchestra with Cecilia Tsan as a cello soloist. (Tsan is the principal cellist with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra.) I wrote it during my recovery from kidney disease. When I got my transplant, I had to stay inactive for a little while. (The work) was inspired by a cello student that I had in my orchestra. I think he will be attending the event. We’ll have a 40-piece orchestra, kind of a hodgepodge of musicians, some from Orange County, studio musicians from L.A., and some former students of my youth orchestra. And then the second half of the program will be some of my popular songs. And then the orchestra will join us for a finale.
COC: You went through a period of bad health. How did that affect you creatively?
Benoit: I was living the jazz life a little too much. I had hypertension for a long time and it was never diagnosed. There was some substance abuse and the strain of traveling, and then the partying afterwards – you know, the whole jazz life that we’ve read about. I tasted it enough to land me in the hospital with severe kidney damage. I thought that through diet and exercise, I’d be OK. The nephrologist knew eventually I was going to have to be on dialysis, but he worked with me, so I stayed off dialysis for 10 years.
COC: Could you function professionally at that time in your life?
Benoit: What I noticed was just this lack of energy. When we were on vacation in Italy, I couldn’t even walk up hills anymore. And I couldn’t eat. I lost my appetite. When I got back and I went to the doctors, they put me on dialysis immediately. “Your kidneys are done.” So I got on the list for a transplant at UCLA, and my wife was my savior. She donated her kidney. The irony of jazz is (it’s) music that’s so full of life and so life-affirming and yet its practitioners sometimes burn out early.
COC: Did your move to Orange County have anything to do with your health issues?
Benoit: My lifestyle now is very mellow, which is a lot of the reason we moved to Orange County. We lived in the South Bay for many, many years. And then, just two years ago, we decided to, I won’t say retire, but just slow down a little bit. We moved to south O.C. and we’ve just never been happier. I’m in bed by 9. I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay with dinner. On Friday night, I’ll treat myself to a vodka martini, but that’s all.
COC: I understand your cello piece chronicles your health journey.
Benoit: Yes. It’s in three movements. The first movement’s called “Road Warrior.” It’s very frenetic and upbeat and crazy. It’s all about my road trips. And then at the very end of the first movement, everything just comes crashing down and it gets very atonal and weird, which is highly unusual for me. Then the second movement, it (reflects) when I was in the hospital on dialysis and it’s a very slow, peaceful movement called “End Stage,” which was my diagnosis: end-stage kidney disease, which means you’re done. You’ll be on a machine the rest of your life unless you get another kidney, you know? And then the third movement is very joyous. (It represents) when I got my kidney. And it’s upbeat and has some kind of funny little moments in it.
COC: Tell us about cello soloist Cécilia Tsan.
Benoit: She grew up in France, but she’s of Chinese origin. And she does all the cello work for John Williams and (she’s) very good friends with Yo-Yo Ma, so she was just such a great choice, and she loves the piece.
COC: Tell us about your interest in Vince Guaraldi and, by extension, Charlie Brown. How did that all start?
Benoit: Well, as a kid I started reading the strip and I just identified with him. I said, “That’s me. That is me.” I had one of those childhoods where I just never did anything right. I wasn’t a bad kid. I was actually a very good kid, but very quiet, very shy. And I got teased mercifully for playing the piano. When the (first “Peanuts”) special came out in ’65, the music just fascinated me. “What’s that music? I want to play like that.” Vince was an early influence and I learned about his style mostly just playing by ear. And eventually, when my career started, I recorded “Linus and Lucy,” and then that got the ear of Lee Mendelson (the Emmy-winning television producer who partnered with cartoonist Charles M. Schulz to bring the “Peanuts” gang to television). He hired me to start writing (music for) some of the TV shows. And then that led me to meet the man himself, Charles Schultz. He and I had a great relationship and he really liked my music.
COC: That’s one of the things I really admire about your career – collaborations like that. You’ve worked with Chris Botti and the Rippingtons and Take Six, to name but a few. Is collaboration something that you’ve always aspired to do? What musicians are you drawn to?
Benoit: Yeah. Collaboration always brings out something different, even the times that I was lucky enough to score some films and TV. It brings out a different aspect. But what amazes me about the scene now is the quality of talent in the younger players. Every day there’s a new one – Emmet Cohen, Sullivan Fortner, Taylor Eigsti. They have so much more technique than previous generations of jazz pianists. They’re all great. It’s kind of a golden era.
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