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Lorin Benedict is an improvising vocalist (scat singer, essentially) living in Emeryville, California. He attempts to introduce more structurally involved elements into the field of (Western!) vocal improvisation. Most of his work in this area is centered loosely in the jazz idiom. Recently, Lorin has co-led small groups (duos, trios) in which the roles of the musicians are somewhat mutable even in contexts where highly structured forms are being played. Examples include Bleeding Vector with Emeryville guitarist Eric Vogler, and another duo project with east bay saxophonist Kasey Knudsen. Together, these three musicians jointly lead the trio project, The Holly Martins. He has also co-led duo projects with Helsinki-based drummer Sam Ospovat and LA-based musician Logan Kane. Lorin joined the fold of musicians rather late in life, at the age of 31, after many years of listening to recordings and live performances, many of which involved members of his immediate family (all of whom are/were orchestral musicians in the western classical tradition).

Since becoming professionally active in 2003, Lorin has performed and/or recorded as a side-man in groups led by the following bandleaders (among others): Howard Wiley, John Schott, Sheldon Brown, Steve Coleman, Ches Smith, Sam Ospovat, Malik Ameer,  Machado Mijiga, Donald Bailey, Mitch Marcus, Noam Lemish, Jed Holtman, Adam Theis, Josh Smith, Ramon & Jessica (Dina Maccabee and Jesse Olsen Bay), Logan Kane, Pamela Z, Ron Shalom, Myles Boisen, Lisa Mezzacappa, Anthony Coleman II, Aaron Kruziki, Caroline Davis, Chase Jackson, Graham Connah, Phillip Greenlief, Jacob Rex Zimmerman, Julián Pujols Quall, T.D. Skatchit (Tom Nunn & David Michalak), Hannah Mayer, Sharp and Fine Dance Company.

He has co-led groups in performance and/or recording with: Eric Vogler, Kasey Knudsen, Ben Goldberg, Sam Ospovat, Ron Heglin, Louis Cole, Malik Ameer, Josh Allen, Tim Duff, Sarah Grace Graves, Jeong Lim Yang, Ian Carey, Kurt Kotheimer, Jen Shyu, Marcos Morales, Odalys Caro, Jill Burton, Jacob Rex Zimmerman, Jed Holtman, Jason Levis, Bryan Bowman, Luke Westbrook, Maria Grand, Caroline Davis.

In the course of such performances/recordings, Lorin has additionally played with (among many others): Kim Cass, Akira Tana, Faye Carol, Jeannine Anderson, Kito Gamble, Darrell Green, Justin Brown, Hamir Atwal, Jon Arkin, Tomas Fujiwara, Alan Hall, Dave MacNab, Matt Nelson, Nick Lyons, Devin Hoff, Marcus Shelby, Jonathan Finlayson, Dafnis Prieto, Ravi Coltrane, Craig Taborn, Matt Mitchell, Stephan Crump, Thomas Morgan, Mike McGinnis, Oscar Noriega, Brandon Seabrook, Paul Cornish, Santiago Leibson, Matt Wong, Omree Gal-Oz, Chris Sullivan, Nicole McCabe, Garrett Baxter, Matt Sazima, Dario LaPoma, Milo Fultz, Fay Victor, Judith Berkson, Kyoko Kitamura, Amy X Neuburg, Julie Queen, Aurora Josephson, Caitlin Tabancay Austin, Michael Iago Mellander, Bishop Norman Williams, Noel Jewkes.

This includes performances at the following spaces: Yoshis, UCLA’s Hammer Museum, DeYoung Museum, The Blue Whale, SF Jazz Center (Joe Henderson Lab), The Stone (curators: Steve Coleman in 2007 and Ches Smith in 2017), 2006 Stanford Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Summerfest 2022,  2022 Improvisation Summit of Portland, 2023 SF Music Day, California Jazz Conservatory, Jazz Showcase, Willamette University, Cafe Racer, IBeam, Center for New Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Presidio Officers Club, Studio Grand, Temescal Arts Center, 2017 Outsound New Music Summit, 2017 Switchboard Festival, Downtown Berkeley Arts, Luggage Store Gallery, SIMM Series at SF Musicians Union, An Die Musik, Red Poppy Art House, Douglas Street Music Collective, 2009 and 2010 Evolving Voices Series, Downtown Music Gallery, The 1905, Ameoba (SF), Make-Out Room, Elbo Room, Jazz at Pearls.

 

Discography:
 
2003: 
Malik Ameer, Sanctified
 
2004: 
Steve Coleman & Five Elements, Lucidarium
 
2005:
John Schott’s Typical Orchestra
 
2006:
Malik Ameer, Nothing Better To Do
 
2007: 
Malik Ameer, The Roseline
Howard Wiley & The Angola Project
 
2010:
Howard Wiley & The Angola Project, 12 Gates to the City
The Holly Martins, No, No, Yes, No
Mitch Marcus Quintet, Countdown to Meltdown
 
2011:
Malik Ameer and Lorin Benedict, Home Is Where the House Is
 
2012:
Lorin Benedict and Sam Ospovat, Passwords
Malik Ameer, Just Because It’s a Dream Don’t Make It a Lie
Sam Ospovat, PIKI
 
2014:
Beep!, Too Physical
 
2016:
The Holly Martins, You Know, I Was Just About To… 
 
Forthcoming: 
Sheldon Brown’s Distant Intervals, Blood of the Air

Discography:

2003: 

Malik Ameer, Sanctified

2004: 

Steve Coleman & Five Elements, Lucidarium

2005:

John Schott’s Typical Orchestra

2006:

Malik Ameer, Nothing Better To Do

2007: 

Malik Ameer, The Roseline

Howard Wiley & The Angola Project

2010:

Howard Wiley & The Angola Project, 12 Gates to the City

The Holly Martins, No, No, Yes, No

Mitch Marcus Quintet, Countdown to Meltdown

2011:

Malik Ameer and Lorin Benedict, Home Is Where the House Is

2012:

Lorin Benedict and Sam Ospovat, Passwords

Malik Ameer, Just Because It’s a Dream Don’t Make It a Lie

Sam Ospovat, PIKI

2014:

Beep!, Too Physical

2016:

The Holly Martins, You Know, I Was Just About To… 

2018:

Minivan (aka Ron Shalom), CreepySexyCool

Madison Washington (DJ thatmanmonkz and Malik Ameer), Facts

Sheldon Brown's Distant Intervals, Blood of the Air

2019:

Ron Heglin and Lorin Benedict, Duos and Solos

Sam Ospovat, Ride Angles

2020:

Logan Kane and Lorin Benedict, No Relation, No Problem: Live at bluewhale

2021:

Jed Holtman Group, End of the Line

2022

Logan Kane and Lorin Benedict, They Went That-a-way

2023: 

Bleeding Vector, ARST / ARSED

Lorin Benedict, illuminated