One of the most remarkable young pianists currently pushing the boundaries of jazz, Marco Benevento is best known for his work playing Hammond B-3 organ and Wurlitzer electric piano as half of the noted experimental indie-jam act the Benevento/Russo Duo. Formed in 2002, the pair earned a rabid following with their incendiary improvisational flights that owed as much to rock (they ably covered everything from Led Zeppelin and Neil Young to Beck and Radiohead) as jazz. With the group largely on hiatus for the past few years besides occassional live work, the two musicians have focused on other projects with Russo playing drums in the Gene Ween Band and the Grateful Dead project Furthur and Benevento leading his own trios and playing in avant-groove quartet Garage a Trois.

Appling his heavy arsenal of effect pedals and homemade "circuit-bent" toys (electronic gadgets purposely shorted out by Benevento to produce weird sounds) to the acoustic piano on his solo efforts Invisible Baby and the follow-up effort Me Not Me issued on his own Royal Potato Family label in 2009. Tackling a wide spectrum of songs by other artists -- ranging from iconic songwriters Leonard Cohen and George Harrison to modern rock acts like My Morning Jacket and the Bay Area's own experimental outfit Deerhoof -- Benevento focused his sonic innovations in a most tuneful fashion.

Benevento has made the Bay Area a regular stop in his travels, playing a month-long residency at Yoshi's in Oakland a couple of years ago and serving as an artist-in-residence for the 2011 Fillmore Jazz Festival. He bring songs from his latest effort Tigerface -- arguably his most overt exploration of an indie-pop oriented sound and his first to feature vocals on two songs, courtesy Rubblebucket singer Kalmia Traveras -- when he and his trio featuring Ween bassist Dave Driewitz and Bay Area product Andy Borger (Tom Waits, Norah Jones) on drums play this surprise show at the Boom Boom Room Monday night.

Marco Benevento
Monday, Feb. 4, 9 p.m. $10
The Boom Boom Room