Benjamin Lapidus

Music

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Ein Kelokeinu

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Released: Jan 1, 2008

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Ein Kelokeinu
4:05
1,828 plays
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Herencia Judia
6:09
672 plays
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East of el son Wes del tres
7:38
1,666 plays
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Dialectics of a Soplapote
2:58
462 plays
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Palo Jazz
9:06
2,341 plays

Total Plays: 7,268 / Plays Today: 1See All Featured ►

General Info

Genre: Jazz / Latin / Tropical
Location BROOKLYN, New York, US
Profile Views: 19765
Last Login: 8/28/2012
Member Since 6/11/2007
Website www.benjaminlapidus.com
Record Label Various
Bio
I started Sonido Isleño at the end of 1996 as a means for myself and my friends to get out of the dance band setting and improvise. The idea has evolved over time but the basic concept is the mixing of Spanish-Caribbean folkloric music with jazz: two constants throughout my life. Five albums later the band has toured Europe, South America, and the U.S. achieving international acclaim and wide radioplay. In addition to leading Sonido Isleño, I have been fortunate to perform and/or record with many incredible musicians and friends around the world such as: Paquito D’Rivera, Jerry González, Dennis Mario, Paoli Mejias, John Santos, Humberto Ramírez, Ralph Irizarry, Jesús Caunedo, Gabriel Rodríguez, Maurice El Médioni & Roberto Rodríguez, Onel Mulet, Roman Díaz, Dafnis Prieto, Hot Peas 'N Butter, Adelante, Almazal, Pedro Pablo Martínez, Mezcla, Los Universales del Son, José Conde, Kaori Fujii, Juan Pablo Torres and members of the The Buena Vista Social Club (Ibrahim Ferrer, Pio Leiva, Manuel “Guajiro” Mirabal, Orlando “Cachaito” Lopez), Chris Washburne, Lisandro Arias, Julian Chang, Candido Camero, Ray Martínez, Bobby Sanabria, Harvie S, Brian Lynch, Mark Weinstein, Chico Álvarez, Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros, Emilio Barretto, Eddie Zervigón, José Fajardo, Rudy Calzado, Larry Harlow, Mo’Guajiro, Greg Glassman, Matt Ray, Dick Hyman, Joe Farnsworth, Joe Giardullo, Joe McPhee, Tanni Tabbal, Thomas Workman, Larry Goldings, and a few others...
Members
Sonido Isleno: Paul Carlon, Frank Cotto, Greg Glassman, Mike Molina, Felix Sanabria, Hector Torres...Herencia Judia: Jorge Bringas, Ogduardo Roman Diaz, Antonio de Vivo, Samuel Levine, Onel Mulet, Oscar Onoz, Jeremy Brown, Andy Statman
Influences
Too many to mention…My father and grandmother, Mario Rivera, Chito Latamblé, Rácifo Duran, Guillermo "Bule" Mustelier, Marcelino Ruiz, Ramón Gómez Blanco, Pancho Amat, Pedro Vera, Nino Mendoza, Cotó, Mario Hernández, Chino Trias, Kiki Valera Miranda, Rigoberto Hechevarría, El Albino, Luis "Lija" Ortiz, Isaac Oviedo, Papi Oviedo, Andrés Echevarría a.k.a. El Niño Rivera, Kotán, Yomo Toro, Edwin Colón, Prodigio Claudio, Johnny Griffin, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Tuck Andress, Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Eddie Diehl, any and all good music regardless of genre...
Sounds Like
“Lapidus uses such instruments as the six-string tres (from Cuba) and 10-string cuatro (from Puerto Rico) to perform his compositions that are rooted in the language and techniques of jazz. He insists that these seemingly different worlds should fit together,” Aaron Cohen, Downbeat; "Benjamin Lapidus has taken the Cuban tres guitar to a higher musical plateau,” Luis Tamargo, Latin Beat Magazine; “Lapidus has done for the Tres what Adolphus Sax did for the Saxophone and Josef Horak did for the Bass Clarinet, he has created a new solo instrument…He has already carved out for himself a place in the history of the music he loves and created a world of new possibilities for the instruments he loves – the Guitar and the Tres,” Turiya Mareya, JazzReview.com; “Sonido Isleño. Complete Insanity. Ben Lapidus appeared onstage with a red and white jersey of the home soccer team, el Atlético Junior and made everyone enjoy themselves, dance, sing, and rumba. It was a musical voyage through the entire Caribbean with plena, bomba, changüí, conga, to summarize: if you missed it, you couldn’t imagine what it would sound like,” Gilberto Gómez, La Lira (Barranquilla, Colombia); “Lapidus combines Latin music with modern jazz so effectively that it's difficult to tell where one genre ends and the other begins,” Alexander Gelfand, The Forward; “Sonido Isleño tiene la llave del presente, pasado, y futuro,” Eric González, HerenciaLatina.com.