Jay Bennett, a multi-instrumentalist and producer, passed away in his sleep Saturday night, according to a statement from his management company. Bennett was perhaps best known for his time with Wilco, with whom he played from 1994 through 2001; he also played in the ’90s powerpop act Titanic Love Affair and had an extensive list of musical credits. Last year, he put out the solo album Whatever Happened I Apologize, which he distributed for free under a Creative Commons license, and there’s currently a project underway to collect funds from fans for a vinyl release of the album. After the cut, a few tracks from his wide-ranging body of work.
Titanic Love Affair, “Planet Strange” (from Titanic Love Affair, 1991)
Wilco, “A Shot In The Arm” (from Summerteeth, 1999)
Wilco, “Pot Kettle Black” (from Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, 2002; Bennett provided “Wall of feedback, Electric guitars, Mellotrons, Synth, ‘B-Bender electric guitars,’ and Manual keyboard effects”)
Jay Bennett, “I’ll Decorate My Love” (from Whatever Happened I Apologize, 2008)
There’s also a 1999 Austin City Limits appearance by Wilco on YouTube.
Earlier this month, Bennett made headlines when he sued former bandmate Jeff Tweedy for breach of contract stemming from unpaid royalties; in a post on his MySpace blog shortly before the news of the lawsuit came out, Bennett blogged about upcoming hip replacement surgery and his work on his long-in-the-works album Kicking at the Perfumed Air.
Jay Bennett was 45.
UPDATE: Jim DeRogatis at the Chicago Sun-Times has spoken to former Bennett collaborator Edward Burch: “Early this morning, Jay died in his sleep and an autopsy is being performed.”
Jay Bennett [MySpace]
Jay Walter Bennett [Undertow Music Collective]
Man, that’s terrible. I know Wilco is more successful now than they were when he was in the band, but the albums he contributed to were definitely my favorites. His solo stuff was pretty solid also.
The first thirty minutes of my day were going awesome, and then I read this. As someone who’s loved Wilco since around Summerteeth and who bought a couple of his solo records, this has just punched me in the fucking stomach so hard. I can’t believe it. R.I.P.
Jay Bennett was and will be remembered as a true pop music genius. It makes me sad to think that there will never be reunion between Bennett and Tweedy. Hopefully this will encourage other musicians to bury the hatchet before it is too late.
@KristaJulieva: I know right? This is a day ruiner. He was a very talented musician.
@joedrow: Yeah, I always felt that at some point they would’ve solved their differences to at least be on speaking terms and wash away some of the bitterness and resentment. Sure, Bennett didn’t come off great in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, but it’s not like Tweedy himself hasn’t admitted going through some pretty serious depression issues and he probably wasn’t particularly easy to deal with either for a long time. Whatever happened between them, I’m pretty sure that Jeff doesn’t feel much better than Paul Westerberg after Bob’s death…
In any case, this news really broke my heart – especially after reading his last blog about his surgery.
I loved, loved, loved Titanic Love Affair. I still have a drumstick from one of their shows in 92.
My favorite Wilco was with Jay – he was a pop music genius. The world is a better place because he made music.