Alan Benzie Trio new album

Who am I?

Hello and thanks for taking the time to read this! I am Alan Benzie, a jazz pianist and composer from Glasgow, Scotland. You may be familiar with me or my trio - but if not, then here are a couple of videos from our debut album to check out:

Watch "From A to B"

Watch "Frog Town on the Hill"

What are we doing?

We are finishing our second album of original music for release in February 2018. Our debut helped us to find lots of people who enjoy our music, through touring, reviews, radio and so on. We wanted to keep giving our fans new music to enjoy, and also reach many more new people, so we went into the studio to record another album in August. We are really excited about how the rough tracks are sounding (you can hear wee bits throughout the video, above). However, making a high quality album of original music is quite an undertaking, and while I was able to finance the initial costs of recording audio and video, there are still some steps needed to bring the record to completion. These include mixing and mastering, artwork, pressing the CDs and editing/refining video.

We are so close, but we need your help to get there. The simplest way you can help us is to pre-order the record now, and we will send it to you (or you can download it) for your listening pleasure when it is done. However, we have a range of cool options that might be of interest, so do check them out. Alternatively, if you have an idea that would particularly interest you, get in touch and let me know - I’m up for pretty much anything, short of the physically impossible or unlawful! We'd also really appreciate your help with getting the project out there by sharing, tweeting etc - please help us spread the word!

Already up for it? Great, you can see the various pledges and rewards at the side. Want to know a little more? Let me tell you a little more about us and our music.

The Trio

While I have had my own trio since my days at Berklee College of Music in Boston, I started this line-up, with Andrew Robb on bass, and Marton Juhasz on drums, in 2013. I met Marton at Berklee, where we were best friends and played together almost daily, and I've known Andrew since we were 13, back when I played classical violin in the National Children's Orchestra of Scotland! To have a band with such great friends and incredible, award-winning musicians is a total joy, and we have a great time making music together for people to enjoy. Since our first mini-tour in 2013, we've spent a lot of time quite far apart (Scotland, Austria and Norway), and we’ve had times where keeping things going was really difficult, but we still managed to find ways to gig, tour, rehearse, record and spend many hours on Skype sharing ideas. I've had some of the best musical experiences of my life on the road with these guys, and I do think all that work and friendship shines through in the music to make something special. Each year that passes has seen us get tighter, more creative and more empathetic, and this album is a great milestone in that journey.

The Music

I write most of the music - it is creative modern jazz, but takes a lot of influences from impressionist piano music (if you love the piano, this album is for you!), film music (especially Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki, like Spirited Away), and also smatterings of folk, rock and even country. I also love stories and animation, especially those with some elements of fantasy, and so a lot of the music actually has strong imagery behind the tunes, rather than just being a collection of cool sounds that I've put together and then stuck a name on. Whether it's whispering and mysterious, a raucous explosion of energy, a lush soundscape or a groovy dance, I want to take you on a journey away from the everyday for a while, the same way that my favourite music, stories and animations do for me.

We are so keen to get this music out there for people to enjoy, and we know we have got some really great stuff down in the studio - all we need now is some help to get over the line. If you are interested in hearing the music, or indeed, in any of the other rewards we are offering (or you just like our faces and would like to donate) we would be incredibly grateful for your support.

Many thanks,

Alan