Well, I Should Have...*: The Arabesque Sessions

The entire premise hinges on a committed musical prank: Jon Benjamin hired a veteran jazz trio, sat down at the piano, and hammered out random keys because he cannot play the instrument and dislikes the genre. Released by Sub Pop in late 2015 while Benjamin was at the peak of his voice-acting ubiquity on Archer and Bob’s Burgers, the album was recorded at Soundtrack NY with saxophonist Scott Kreitzer, bassist David Finck, and drummer Jonathan Peretz. The backing musicians arrived expecting a standard session, only to discover their bandleader had conceived the project in under three hours and possessed zero instrumental training. The resulting comedy rests entirely on the gap between the rhythm section playing crisp post-bop and Benjamin generating formless dissonance from the center of the mix. While a couple of tracks lean into sketches, including an opening negotiation with a bureaucratic devil voiced by Aziz Ansari, the standout moments are purely musical. On ‘I Can’t Play Piano, Pt. 3,’ Kreitzer gamely attempts a call-and-response routine, listening closely to Benjamin’s erratic clatter and trying to mirror it on saxophone with complete professional dignity. The stunt found an audience anyway, earning a showcase on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, coverage on NPR’s All Things Considered, and selling out its original vinyl run.