Benjamin Furman

[translated from Spanish]
“Benjamin Furman was my private student in Berklee College of Music. He is a very talented and dedicated musician. He is not just a great Jazz pianist, but his interests expand to the voice, the song and the Southamerican tradition. His music is varied, fresh and beautiful, intertwining rhythm from all the Southern Cone. I believe he can get to be an important voice of the Southamerican popular music, and an ambassador of the Southamerican song here in USA. Without a doubt he shined at Berklee as a member of a new wave of emerging Southamerican musicians that will provide a contribution to our music."



About Nando Michelin
- Uruguayan composer/pianist
- Collaborated with Esperanza Spalding, Jeff Ballard, Jerry Bergonzi, Antonio Sanchez, and others
- Professor at Berklee College of Music
- Leader of “Nando Michelin Group”
- His recordings include “Facing South”, “Common Grounds”, “Art”, “Chants”, “Live at AJC”, “When Einstein Dreams”, “Duende”, “Reencontro” and more - Direct review to the artist

[translated from Spanish]
"I met Benjamin in the Tango ensemble, a course I teach at Berklee College of Music. I remember Benjamin shined in his musicality, piano and voice. He has huge passion and dedication for music, especially South American music. The musical material he has produced, both in his project as well as other’s, is of a high standard. Sincerely I believe he can get to be an important element of the Chilean song. Also, having seen many students pass through Berklee, I truly believe Benjamin has the personality and leadership necessary to build a solid and relevant musical career."

About Fernando Huergo:
- internationally acclaimed bassist and composer from Argentina
- bass and ensemble professor at Berklee College of Music
collaborations with Jeff Ballard, Guillermo Klein, Luciana Souza, Cesar Camargo Mariano Trio, Danilo Perez, Marta Gomez, Dave Valentín, Hendrick Meurkens, Dave Liebman, Dave Samuels, Joe Beck, and many others.
- bassist in more than 140 albums, many internationally acclaimed (11 as leader) - direct review to the artist

Benjamin Furman, pianist, composer, singer, explorer of sonic worlds, poet and musician, is today one of the principal exponents of the new scene of Jazz in Chile, and one of the most promising sons of multicultural music. With only 25 years of age and one album, this young Chilean musician has exposed already a personal horizon inside the local Jazz scene, appearing as emerging figure among the new generations of the global music.

With a solid musical education, he hag began to wander inside of himself the cultural diversity that gives him life: Hebraic resonances, Latin American ones, Afro and Europeans elements, all these span affluently from his compositions, where diversity of musical genres flourish with wit, cleverness and devotion (Klezmer music, Argentinian Zamba, Preuvian Landó, Jazz, etc).

In his first album (Desde el jardín, 2014) he opens for us the doors of his imagination and personal sensitivity, coexisting a certain epic dimension with an impressionistic sensibility when dealing with his intimate family tales. A residency where the new and the old (tradition) coexist, the Western and the Eastern, the Afro-Peruvian, the South American, and the Jazzistic improvisation; a canvas where the colors dialogue with light and deep notes, layering at the bottom a originality where nothing is foreign, but yet everything seems new.

For Furman, jazz constitutes "a crossroads for the cultures of the world"; an identifier and creative platform, a space where the musician, inhabited by his multiple cultures and sensitivities, joins this game accompanied by a top level crew: Cristian Gallardo on the sax and flue, Cristobal Menares in guitar, Cristobal Massis in drums, Javier Cueto in percussions and Maximiliano Flynn in upright bass. And so, immigrant in his own body, Furman jumps effortlessly into the garden of his millenary childhood, inviting us to listen to his exquisite musical memory; "a melody that even before being born, I was already singing" he says.

Between premorden and postmodern, he opens for us his piano like a little music box where listening ("music is a way of listening" he says) makes itself heard. Host of the South, we shall be in the lookout for this new Benjamin of the Chilean Jazz.

HoloJazz,
Radio Universidad de Chile

About Miguel Eduardo Vera-Cifras: Graduated in Literature from the Universidad de Chile, and in Musicology from UNiversidad Alberto Hurtado. Investigator and writer associated to IASPM_AL (International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Latin American branch). For the last 16 years he conducts the radial show Holojazz in the Radio Universidad de Chile, and has collaborated in many publications of Jazz (Jazz Urbano, Papeles de Jazz, etc.), album line notes and curator texts and positions. - Holojazz

Rodrigo Aguilera (cultural director of "Festival Internacional Jazz Valdivia", cultural academic and psychoanalist) says about the album “Desde el jardín” [translated from Spanish]: “it is without a doubt an amazing and achieved experiment! His music manages to evoke 'finness' and intimate elegance, as well as humor, movement and madness! I invite you to enjoy this album, which is truly an audible journey!
Benjamin Furman is without a doubt one of the most multifaceted artists in Chile and will develop an incredible musical career worldwide" - Festival de Jazz y World Music de Valdivia

Roberto Barahona (director of Festival Internacional de Jazz Providencia, the biggest jazz Festival in Chile, and y Radio Show PuroJazz) comments about Benjamin [translation from Spanish]:
“With only 24 years he is without a doubt one of the young Chilean jazz players (and other styles) with biggest international future. He is a multifaceted artist that shines as a pianist, composer and singer, not only in Jazz, but also in Folklore, Rock and Pop, and other genres” - http://www.purojazz.com/