Saxophonist/guitarist/vocalist Ben Senterfit first tasted success with the a cappella group The Wayfarers in the late 1980s. He had an opportunity to perform in New York City with The legendary Persuasions, at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival with Sam Bush, & Bela Fleck, and with the Cleo Parker Robinson dance troupe.
In the early 1990s, Ben helped to form hard-edged funk act Chitlin with compatriot Javier Gonzalez before touring nationally with funk-rock band Zuba. In 1996 he began performing improvisational sessions with DJ Timbuk and fellow musicians which would later prove to be the building blocks of The United Dope Front.
Since the early 1990s, Ben has recorded and released seven full-length releases and been a session musician on more than a dozen other recordings. He has performed and opened for such acts as Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Maceo Parker, Spearhead, and Medeski, Martin and Wood. In 2000 he released a debut solo effort called Soulwave, which includes many of the musicians found within the CueZone Records Collective.
This year Ben is releasing his second solo effort due out this summer while finishing up a CueZone release called The Dirty Boogaloo with CueZone co-owner Jarad Astin. Recently relocated to New York from the Denver area (where he was a treasured member of the Swallow Hill community as a teacher), he returns to Swallow Hill for a special evening of which you should be a part!
Also on the bill with Ben is The Lovely and Talented. A beautiful woman sings, dances, plays the viola and we all fall in love. With one hand, he plays keys; with the other, he bangs, shakes and kicks anything he can reach. As a child, he didn't want to play the piano, so he began to play piano on his electric bass. Raised in the back offices of his father's small factory in Chicago, the singer/songwriter tells the stories of the working class and their search for divinity.
The Lovely and Talented is the creation of singer/guitarist JT Nolan. Joined by singer/viola player Robin Hoch, drummer/keyboardist Paul Mullikin, and electric bassist Matt Skellenger, The Lovelies fuse international influences of sambas, boleros, Gypsy swing, and tap dancing to American folk music. The end result has been described as unclassifiable, sophisticated porch music.
The band's self-titled debut was released in 2006 to critical acclaim. The album managed to capture a powerful combination of styles and genres that have ultimately defined what can now be recognized uniquely as The Lovely and Talented.
