With this collection of ballads, the great jazz pianist and composer David Benoit provides the perfect soundtrack to a relaxing evening.

For four decades, the GRAMMY®-nominated pianist/composer/arranger David Benoit has reigned supreme as one the founding fathers of Contemporary Jazz.

“Steinway After Dark is a collection of some of my favorite ballads penned by some of my favorite composers, including yours truly. As the title suggests, this recording should be played in the later evening, perhaps while sipping a Louis XIII de Remy Martin by a crackling fire or just enjoying some peaceful alone time before retiring to dreamland. I hope you will enjoy having me in your living room, even for just one quiet night.”
— David Benoit

“Every album by David Benoit is a little wonder, soft and sometimes unclassifiable, very jazzy... sublime, admirable… Indispensable!””   
— Paris-Move

“David Benoit’s poetic, transcendent and timeless anthems have a way of permeating your spirit.”
— Smooth Jazz Daily

Album Credits

Steinway After Dark • STNS 30249

Release Date: 05/02/2025

Recorded November 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Producer: Jon Feidner

Engineer: Joshua Frey

Editor: Jon Feidner

Mixing and Mastering: Daniel Shores

Executive Producers: Eric Feidner, Jon Feidner

Art Direction: Jackie Fugere

Design: Jackie Fugere  and Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carrasquillo
Photograph of David Benoit: Lori Stoll                                                          
Project Coordinator: Renée Oakford
Piano Technician: John Veitch
Piano: Steinway Model D # 607799 (New York)
 

About the Artist

For four decades, the GRAMMY®-nominated pianist/composer/arranger David Benoit has reigned supreme as one the founding fathers of Contemporary Jazz. In 2017 he released The Steinway Sessions, his debut on the Steinway & Sons label. It includes some of Benoit’s most well-known tunes as well as the world premiere recording of his “Etudes for the Contemporary Pianist”. In 2020 It's a David Benoit Christmas, his album of Vince Guaraldi’s music for Charlie Brown, was released on Steinway & Sons. Benoit’s thirty-fifth recording as a leader and his first with a vocalist, 2 In Love, was released in 2015 featuring Jane Monheit, the GRAMMY®- nominated, cool-toned chanteuse from New York.Benoit received three GRAMMY® nominations in the categories of Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for “Every Step of the Way” (1989), Best Large Ensemble Performance for GRP AllStar Big Band (1996), and Best Instrumental Composition for “Dad’s Room”, the latter from the album Professional Dreamer (2000). In 2010 Benoit received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Smooth Jazz Awards. He has worked with an impressive potpourri of musicians including the Rippingtons, Emily Remler, Alphonse Mouzon, Dave Koz, Faith Hill, David Sanborn, CeCe Winans and Brian McKnight.

Benoit’s film scores include The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995), produced by Clint Eastwood, and The Christmas Tree, produced by Sally Field, which was voted Best Score of 1996 by Film Score Monthly. He has served as conductor with a wide range of symphonies including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Asia America Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra.

A longtime guest educator with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, Benoit received that organization’s Excellence in Music Award in 2001. His musical selections have been featured on The Weather Channel and his version of Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” is included on a compilation The Weather Channel Presents: Smooth Jazz II (2008).

David Benoit is composer in residence at Montalvo Arts and is the Music Director & Conductor for the Asia America Symphony Association. He also currently hosts a morning radio show on KKJZ 88.1 FM in Long Beach, California.
 

About Steinway & Sons label

The STEINWAY & SONS music label produces exceptional albums of solo piano music across all genres. The label — a division of STEINWAY & SONS, maker of the world’s finest pianos — is a perfect vessel for producing the finest quality recordings by some of the most talented pianists in the world.