Testimonials
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"My experience in working with Ben was pure joy. I found him a great listener, a clear communicator, passionate, and a skilled musician/composer. He is a true collaborator. His questions and comments reveal a composer trying to better understand the character's emotional journey, in order to support the story and the director's vision." Anita Bloom, Film Director “Ben Brussell’s music and music making grab my ear and heart from the get-go. I am drawn into the timeless beauty of his sound and the gorgeous aesthetic that permeates everything he does. It’s a soundscape of endless detail and beauty. Brussell can sing and swing with the best.” Frederick Lifsitz, Violinist, Alexander String Quartet "My experience working with Ben never felt like working, it felt like living. Ben is an incredible human being, is a very sensitive, savvy and generous musician, with a rich knowledge in world music, with a fine sense of humor and tons of experience as a composer and a musician. His music is full of life, depth, emotion and humanity. I love Ben's sense of honesty with himself and the love he has for music. Music runs through his family and you feel that when you work together. There's something profound yet light in working with Ben. Ben is in now a friend, and over and over I hope to work with him again. Everything I can say about him is good. He brings passion and good things to the project from the start." Carlos Vila, Film Director "Ben is a consummate musical pro with a passion for performance. As a performing artist and bandleader, he always delivers for his audience and his clients. He is an exciting vocalist and an accomplished performer on a variety of instruments including mandolin, violin and fluegelhorn. As a composer and arranger, his deep knowledge of klezmer and other traditions inspires his musical creations and creates an exciting mix." Gary Schwantes, Musician & Composer “Benny is not only a fine musician, he is a greater person. When he plays his beautiful music, it makes you stop whatever you’re doing and listen.” Johnny Staton, Musical Artist & Producer – Staton Productions "There are not enough good things I can say about working with Ben Brussell. His extensive knowledge of music, composition and theory, to his ability to connect with the heart of a project and its emotion. There is no one I trust more as a composer than Ben. If you don't believe me, you can believe The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for giving my short film "Impala" an Oscar, which I firmly believe Ben's work was a major contributor to its success." David Marion, Film Producer & Director, California Republic Films “Ben (Benito as I call him) is certainly one of a kind! I always enjoy hearing his work and engaging musical approach. It has a fresh hand-made quality to it while being simultaneously masterful.” Marco D’Ambrosio, Film Composer & Music Producer - Marco Co. “Ben has a unique quality, being an expert composer and music theorist while retaining a spiritual approach to music performance. He lives and breathes music, and can in one instance conduct an orchestra, and in another improvise with a folk ensemble. His natural habitat is the stage, and his ability to lead a band and read a room is greater than any other band leader I've worked with in my years as an audio engineer.” Gavin Jones, Producer & Audio Engineer, Duvateen Sound "For all things strings, Ben makes it happen. He is a fine musician, composer, and arranger and a great guy! Mads Tolling, Jazz Violinist, Composer & Producer "Playing with KLEZMANIA! was one of the high points of my career. Though the name of the ensemble implies traditional Klezmer, it was clear from our earliest days that Ben envisioned a far-reaching world music experience for our audiences. He pulled together superb musicians from different traditions, skillfully combining multiple genres into unique and beautiful arrangements. I always felt challenged to stretch my skills as a musician, and to be fully engaged as a person to match Ben’s dedication and work ethic. I also remember that for a span of eleven years, I had fun every single time I played with this band. Ben never stopped – there was always something new to reach for, and our audience never heard the same set twice." Craig Fry, Violinist & Senior Sound Designer - Creativity, Inc. "Ben is a very sincere artist. His musical sense is very well represented vocally, instrumentally, compositionally, and throughout his work with Ben Brussell Music. I've known him and his work since our days in film scoring school, at USC. Performing on a few of our CD works, it is my pleasure to write these words." Antonio D. Underwood - Tone East Music LLC “I met Ben Brussell in the late 1980s in our student years at San Francisco State University, and I became a regular member of his bands KLEZMANIA! & Sirba. We rehearsed quite a lot in those days and played some very challenging and technical material, including his compositions, as well as traditional klezmer and other world and jazz music, and got very tight as an ensemble. Soon, thanks to Ben's hard work and keen acumen as a bandleader, we were gigging frequently around the Bay Area and the wine country. In the early 90s we made an album of Ben's compositions called "The Wailing Wall", on which I was featured on several tunes on soprano and tenor saxophone. Over twenty years of working together we did countless gigs, including weddings and bar mitzvahs, the opening of the Jewish Museum in San Francisco, as well as many concerts and radio shows. I learned a great deal from working with Benny, both musically and professionally. He's a serious composer and talented multi-instrumentalist musician, with an inquisitive mind, admirable work ethic, great experience as a bandleader, performer, and just an all-around nice guy. It's been my privilege to work with Benny and I wish him every success now and in the future.” Dave Barrows, Music Artist & Producer “I have had the pleasure to work with Ben in many live situations as well as in the studio. Ben is a dynamic multi-talented musician, composer and arranger. I found his deep passion of music the key component in his artistry." Jerry Stucker, Music Producer - JS Productions “Everyone has a song in their heart. But there's only a few people we would entrust to arrange that song or compose a new one so that everyone else can effortlessly place that song in their hearts. Ben Brussell is that trusted composer and arranger. Good thing he doesn't charge by the heartbeat. We'd go broke.” Ralph Scott, Supervising Producer - Speaks Volumes Productions |