Biography

Marcello Benetti is a multi-hyphenated artist who combines his Italian heritage with his New Orleans soul to create vivaciously enthralling nu-jazz music. Marcello plays four instruments, composes music for his solo and duo projects, performs in the improvised music scene, and has recently released a musically accompanied children's book.

Learning to play the piano in 2004 inspired Marcello to explore composing his own music; What started out as simple melodies arranged for bands he played in eventually turned into more sophisticated and fuller compositions inspired by images and feelings.

During this time, Marcello also released 4 solo albums. Back in 2017, during the making of his album "The Coffee Suite", Marcello experienced a turning point in his music; He started recording his compositions alone and playing all the instruments himself, leaving him in total control of every single aspect of the production. The process of creating music in this way was just as rewarding for Marcello as the music he produced, and thus he decided to continue to make his following three albums, "Piano Suite", "Voyage" and "Buongiorno Luna" in the same fashion.

Another way Marcello is able to produce music is through his band, Trapper Keaper. Trapper Keaper is a New Orleans-based duo created with his great friend and collaborator, Will Thompson. The pair have a tried and true way in which they make their music...Record hours and hours of improvised music together, sometimes with guests joining, select a few segments that they like, work on the sound and mix, and put a title on it! The expressive freedom and creativity that allows Trapper Keaper is what keeps Marcello and Will coming back to make more music together and why they are so popular within the improvised music scene.