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In the studio with Eddie Benitez & angels: New CD, psychics on MJ's spirit and blasphemy in Ireland

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An interview with renowned World Music/New Age Jazz guitarist Eddie Benitez is never a one track conversation. Like the many intriguing tracks on his new cd, Visions of Angels, a conversation will take off in many directions, always with passionate views and, well, the company of angels if we are to take Eddie at his word.

I was invited to interview Eddie at HGI Studios in Phoenix during the making of Visions of Angels, to be released September 1st on BMG/NuGroove Records, and to watch Eddie in action as he created his music right there, in the studio. Eddie doesn’t write songs in advance and then head to the studio. Instead, he goes to the studio and allows the melodies and layers of the songs to flow while he’s there, ready to bring them into reality. The angels that Eddie has always claimed to be in communication with, are there inspiring melodies and giving him energy as he creates in way that might seem “on the fly” to others used to more conventional music making. For Eddie, this is business as usual. It’s as if he sits down, opens the faucet, and the music flows like water from a spring. G-Man, Eddie’s co-producer, engineer and keyboardist understands this flow and is able to make it happen in a nifty collaboration of music-speak in the studio. From there, the ideas for other musicians and vocalists to complete each track emerge and the phone calls fly for the sax player, the conga player, and on this album, the heartfelt vocals of R&B legend Howard Hewett on two tracks, and the sweet vocals of Joeleen, a European discovery of Eddie’s. Watching Eddie at work is a thrill — from the exquisite guitar tracks to watching him back at Latin percussion and directing the musicians he brings in — it’s all in his head and it flows out with ease.



There were times in the studio when I would notice Eddie’s eyes wander to the corners of the ceiling in the room — sitting with his guitar, seemingly off having a conversation with someone. It was those times I came to recognize as his conversations with angels, who were both inspiring music directly, and giving him energy as the inevitable fatigue would set in during a long session or days of mixing. According to Eddie, there was even a visit from an archangel or two. If that sounds fantasic, well, let the music speak for itself. You can already heard sneak previews on Eddie’s MySpace music page.

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