Andrea Benini, also known as Mop Mop, was born March 14, 1977. He is a musician and music producer from Cesena, Italy. He has been involved in jazz, funk, and club music. Benini started playing guitar when he was 10 years old and began drumming at the age of 14. Benini left Italy in 1999 to attend the “Discipline dell Arti, della Musica e dell Spettacolo”, where he studied Contemporary music and African-American music. Between 2000 and 2003, Benini was a journalist at the Italian magazine Percussioni, interviewing musicians such as Joey Baron (John Riley), Terry Clarke, to name a few. His current project is Mop Mop. It’s a funk/afro/jazz mix that features Alex Trebo on piano and Pasquale Mirra playing vibraphone. Guglielmo Pagnozzi plays bass, Bruno Briscik plays drums, and Danilo Mineo plays percussions. Tam Tam Studio released Mop Mop’s debut album, “The 11th Pill”, in 2005. It was later re-released for Japan by P-Vine Records. The first single, “Perfect Day Feat. Dejavu Records released Jackson Sloan in 2006, with a remix by Schema Records artist Gerardo Frisina. Adrian Gibson selected “Perfect Day”, in 2007, for “Messin Around 5” a compilation that featured artists such as Nostalgia 77 and Mark Murphy. In 2008, Benini produced Mop Mop’s second album “Kiss oF Kali”. It was released by Infracom Records in Germany. This album features Gianluca Petrella, winner of the Down Beat Critics Poll, on trombone, and Alan Farrington singing. Mop Mop’s third album, “Ritual Of The Savage”, was released by Infracom Records in 2010. Baby Sol, a UK singer, is featured on the album. She also performed backing vocals for Nate James, Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse. Mop Mop’s international film success was made possible by Woody Allen’s “To Rome With Love”, which featured the song “Three Times Bossa”, composed by Andrea Benini/Alex Trebo, and produced by Tam Tam Studio. Mop Mop music is published by labels such as Sony/BMG and Universal. He has appeared in many clubs, jazz clubs and theatres across the globe, including in Italy, Germany. France, Poland. Hungary. Spain. Turky. Benini produced three albums and many singles for Mop Mop Project and remixed artists such as [re:jazz], Bajka and Jazzinvaders. He also created songs for Valique and Rime. Benini actually lives and produces his new works in Berlin. His fourth studio album which includes funk legend Fred Wesley on trombone and British poet Anthony Joseph on vocals, is to be released in 2012. from http://www.mopmop.com
