Michel Bénébig
Michel Bénébig was born 27th June 1964 in Nouméa, New Caledonia. Michel discovered the Hammond organ through hours of listening to his parent's old vinyl recordings. At 7 years of age, Michel was surprised and excited by seeing Rhoda Scott on the television. At 11 years old, he played bass guitar, accordion, electronic organ and the synthesizer in various orchestras and bands all over New Caledonia.
 
Michel joined the Territorial School of Music of Nouméa, and followed traditional courses of piano. In 1990, Michel headed to Besançon, France, to complete a 2-years degree at the local Academy of Music. It was here that an enthusiastic friend first introduced Michel to the real thing: the Hammond organ, an L-100 model. Michel knew there and then that Hammond was the instrument for him!
 
Upon returning to New Caledonia, Michel ordered a Hammond XB5 model, just to get started. Michel became a music teacher at the Territorial School of Music, the same school he attended as a student, at the same time launching an intensive study of Hammond organists such as Jimmy Smith, Jack Mc Duff, Jimmy Mc Griff, Shirley Scott, Rhoda Scott, Wild Bill Davis, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Joey Defrancesco, Lonnie Smith, Charles Earland, and so many others.
 
In February of 1995, fate took a lucky turn, Michel came in contact with "Keyboard Exchange International", an American company located in Florida that is dedicated to the restoration and exportation of vintage Hammond Organs. Michel spent a month here carrying out a specialised technical training course. He also began recording an instructional video which was sold with organs in order to give young and budding organist a kick start into the world of Hammond.
 
Whilst on the trip to Atlanta in Georgia, Michel had the extreme pleasure of meeting the great Jimmy Mc Griff. Michel was helping Joe Vaughn, the owner of the B3 being used for Jimmy Mc Griff's tour in the small town of Rome. When Jimmy himself asked Michel to play - the whole time Michel was playing a tune from Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Mc Griff remained next to him, tapping along, providing strong encouragement and praising Michel's footwork: "Not bad for the 2 years old Hammond player!" Another pleasurable moment was the meeting with the master, Jimmy Smith, in Oakland, California at "Yoshi's" famous Jazz-Club, in 1996. The makings of wonderful memories are also meeting organists such as Larry Goldings, Duck Jethro, Ronnie Foster, Rhoda Scott, and many more.
contact: hammondbenebig@lagoon.nc
Facebook www.facebook.com/benebigmichel
Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/michelbenebig
on tour Click on the logo to see Michel's tour dates.

 

Discography
Michel Bénébig Quartet
no label
recorded November 2001 live at Poteaux in Nouméa/New Caledonia
Michel Bénébig, organ
Rodger Fox, trombone
Cameron Allen, sax
Stéphane Renier, drums
Live At The Rhumerie
no label
recorded August 2003 in Nouméa/New Caledonia
Michel Bénébig, organ
Nicolas Durel, guitar
Jacky Salmon, drums
Live In Melbourne
Sound Vault Records SV0600
recorded live 11 February 2007 in Melbourne/Australia
Michel Bénébig, Hammond New B-3 organ
Vaughn Roberts, trumpet
Adam Simmons, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax
Mike Jordan, drums
Sunlight Special
no label
recorded 2009 in Nouméa/New Caledonia
Michel Bénébig, Hammond New B-3 organ
Shem Bénébig, vocals
Dixon Nacey, guitar
Andrew Dickeson, drums
Black Cap
no label
recorded January 2012 in Pasadena, CA/USA
Michel Bénébig, Hammond New B-3 organ
Doug Webb, sax
Frank Potenza, guitar
Paul Kreibich, drums
Yellow Purple
no label
recorded 2013 in Hayward, CA/USA
Michel Bénébig, Hammond New B-3 organ
Shem Bénébig, vocals
James Levi, drums, percussion
Carl Lockett, guitar
Nouméa To New York
no label
recorded April 2015 in USA
Michel Bénébig, Hammond New B-3 organ
Carl Lockett, guitar
Lewis Nash, drums
Houston Person, tenor sax
Kuic
no label
recorded October 2016 in Auckland/New Zealand
Fabienne ‘Shem’ Bénébig, vocals
Michel Bénébig, Hammond B-3 organ
Carl Lockett, guitar
Roger Manins, sax
Ron Samson, drums
Blue Note In My Suitcase
no label
recorded September 2023 in Melbourne/Australia
Spotify
Michel Bénébig, Hammond B-3 organ
Le Grand B3 Big Band c/ by Lachlan Davidson

 
Videos
Concert 10 December 2005
recorded 10 December 2005 in Nouméa, New Caledonia
Michel Bénébig, organ
Shem, vocals
Adam Simmons, tenor sax, alto sax, baritone sax
Nicolas Durel, guitar
Stéphane Renier, drums
Montana National Jazz Festival 2007
recorded April 2007 in New Zealand
Michel Bénébig, Hammond C-3 organ
Shem, vocals
Vaughn Roberts, trumpet
Roger Manins, tenor sax
Rodger Fox, trombone

 
Sound Samples
MP3 "Everyday I Have The Blues", extract from the DVD "Concert 10 December 2005"
09:03 - 8,490kB
MP3 "Mr. Jim", live at P.B.S. Radio 106.7FM, Melbourne/Australia, 2007
06:49 - 6,406kB
Video n/a

 
YouTube videos
For more videos search YouTube

 
 

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