Max Bennett – Bass
Born in 1928, Bennett’s first professional gig was with Herbie Fields in 1949, and following this he played with Georgie Auld, Terry Gibbs, and Charlie Ventura. He served in the Army during the Korean War from 1951 to 1953, and then played with Stan Kenton before moving to Los Angeles. There he played regularly at the Lighthouse Cafe with his own ensemble, and played behind such vocalists as Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and Elkie Brooks through the 1970s. He also recorded with Charlie Mariano, Conte Candoli, Bob Cooper, Bill Holman, Stan Levey, Lou Levy, Coleman Hawkins and Jack Montrose. In 1976 Bennett performed the bassline of “Gonna Fly Now”, the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti.
Bennett recorded under his own name from the late 1950s and did extensive work as a composer and studio musician in addition to jazz playing. Often associated with The Wrecking Crew, he performed on many records by The Monkees and The Partridge Family. In 1969, Bennett served as the principal bassist for Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats project and also played on subsequent Zappa albums such as Chunga’s Revenge.
His studio work also included bass on the 1969 Lalo Schifrin soundtrack to the 1968 film Bullitt as well as Greatest Science Fiction Hits Volumes 1-3 with Neil Norman & His Cosmic Orchestra. In 1973, Guerin and Bennett joined Tom Scott’s L.A. Express alongside Joe Sample and Larry Carlton. After recording their eponymous debut album, the jazz fusion quintet served as the core band for Joni Mitchell’s ‘Court and Spark’ . A subsequent iteration of the group (including guitarist Robben Ford and pianist Larry Nash) backed Mitchell on the live Miles of Aisles and recorded two smooth jazz albums for Caribou Records following Scott’s departure in 1976. After the band’s dissolution, Bennett formed his own group, Freeway. He continued to perform with his last group, Private Reserve, until his death in 2018.
(Biographical information from Wikipedia)
Bennett also contributed to Mitchell’s ‘The Hissing Of Summer Lawns’ (1974) and this transcription is the complete Bennett bass part for the title track from that album. I heard the tune performed live yesterday and thought I would have a look. Nothing to heavy.