Benjy Wertheimer

http://www.benjymusic.com/ An award-winning musician, composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist equally accomplished on tabla, congas, percussion, esraj, guitar, and keyboards, Benjy Wertheimer has toured and recorded with such artists as Krishna Das, Deva Premal and Miten, Jai Uttal, Walter Becker of Steely Dan, virtuoso guitarist Michael Mandrell, and renowned bamboo flute master G. S. Sachdev. He has also opened for such well-known artists as Carlos Santana, Paul Winter, and Narada Michael Walden. Benjy is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed world fusion ensemble, Ancient Future. Beginning his musical studies at age 5, starting with piano and later violin and flamenco guitar, Benjy received training in Keyboard Improvisation at the University of Colorado and in Composition and Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. In addition, he has studied Indian classical music for over 25 years with some of the greatest masters of that tradition including Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan and Z. M. Dagar, and was, along with the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart, a contributing composer and member of the Zakir Hussain Rhythm Experience. For over five years, Benjy scored music for the internationally syndicated NBC series, Santa Barbara. He has also recorded music for several international clients including Master Card and The Nature Company. His CD Circle of Fire reached #1 on the international New Age radio charts in 2002. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.