Dave Bendigkeit-Denny Berthiaume Duo

After a three decade friendship, two San Francisco Bay Area musicians—former co-leaders of the San Francisco Bay Area fusion group SOLAR PLEXUS--decided to form a DUO devoted to their own compositions and individual arrangements of standards. A series of public performances in clubs, festivals, and other venues began in 2010.

DAVE BENDIGKEIT, trumpet and flugelhorn—has enjoyed a varied career in music for the last 35 years. He is a recording artist, composer, arranger and educator. He has taught at Marin College (1993-1995) and was an instructor at the Monterey Jazz Camp and Stanford University Jazz Camp. He has performed and/or recorded with Ella Fitzgerald, Shelly Manne, Mel Torme, George Shearing, Lou Rawls, Richie Cole, and many others. His recordings include LOOKING OUT (1982), THOUGHTS OF A GENTLEMAN (1987), and FULL CIRCLE (2006). Producer Ted Gioia of QUARTET RECORDS says Dave “is, above all, an expressive soloist, one who shows that rare combination of virtuosity and individualism which has always marked jazz’s superior talents.” And Bob Martin of THE PENSINSULA-TIMES TRIBUNE writes of Dave, “A splendid trumpet player . . . masterful.” Dave currently manages a dojo in Pacifica, California. Contact Dave at dave@davebendigkeit.com.

DENNY BERTHIAUME, keyboards—grew up outside Washington D.C. and in Chicago. He has lived in the BayArea since 1970. He has performed with Bobby McFerrin, Diane Schuur, Joe Williams, and Ed Thigpen. He has appeared at jazz festivals in Monterey, the Russian River, San Jose, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He is a retired professor in literature and music at Foothill College, Los Altos, CA. In addition to his 5 recorded albums with Solar Plexus, his current CDs include 2 solo piano works—SUMMER WISHES/WINTER DREAMS, and ONE FOR THE ROAD— and CDs by “The Trio”--PRAYER FOR PEACE, and JAZZ KIDZZ—and by TRIO—AMERICA: TRIO PLAYS THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON, and FASCINATING RHYTHMS. He has also recorded two duo CDs—LOVE YA, MEAN IT, and THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL-- with guitarist Jeff Buenz. Denny’s CD of “art songs,” IF YOU AND I AWAKENING with vocalist Catherine Seidel--based on poems by ee cummings, Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda, and Carol Henrie--was released in July 2008 (OpenPath Music). KQED-TV’s FOCUS MAGAZINE selected Denny as one of the top 10 Bay Area pianists.   Contact Denny at www.dennyberthiaume.com

Audio Samples:

You and the Night and the Music

You Must Believe in Spring

Cool

Somewhere

America

For bookings please call 415.333.2092
or e mail    dennyberth@comcast.net