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Benny Green

Born in New York in 1963, Benny Green grew up in Berkeley, California, and began classical piano studies at the age of seven. Influenced by his father, a tenor saxophonist, his attention soon turned into Jazz: "I began trying to improvise on the piano, imitating the records I'd been hearing from my father's collection, which included a lot of Monk and Bird… it was a gradual process of teaching myself". Benny played in school bands before hooking up with Jazz singer Fay Carroll: "That was good training for me in terms of accompaniment and learning about the blues, and she also gave me a chance to play trio, opening for her every night."

As a teenager he worked with Eddie Henderson, and got some big band experience with a 12-piece group led by Chuck Israels. After his graduation, Benny freelanced around the bay area for a year, and then moved to New York in the spring of 1982. Back in the Big Apple, he met veteran pianist Walter Bishop Jr.: "I began studying with him and he helped point me in the direction of developing my own sound, and he also encouraged me to check out and study the whole scope of Jazz piano history, so I could get a sense of how I was to fit in."

After a short stint with Bobby Watson, Green worked with Betty Carter between 1983 and 1987. In 1987, he joined Art Blakey's band. He remained a Jazz Messenger through late 1989, at which point he began working with Freddie Hubbard's quintet.

In 1993, Oscar Peterson chose Benny as the first recipient of the City of Toronto's Glen Gould International Protégé Prize in Music. That year, Green replaced Gene Harris in Ray Brown's Trio, working with the veteran bass player until 1997. From 1997 on, Benny resumed his freelance career, led his own trios, and concentrated on his solo piano performances.

His recording career, which includes over one hundred sessions, is very impressive: amongst many others, he has recorded as a sideman with Betty Carter (including Grammy-Award winner Look What I Got), Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Watson, Milt Jackson, Diana Krall, Ray Brown's trio series of CD's for Telarc: Bass Face (1993), Don't Get Sassy (1994), Some of My Best Friends … (1994), Seven Steps to Heaven (1995), Super Bass (1996) and Live at Sculler's (1996).

As a leader of his own groups, Benny's recording career began with two albums for the Dutch label Criss Cross: Prelude (1988) and In This Direction (1989). In 1990, Green started recording for Blue Note, releasing Lineage (1990), Greens (1991), Testifiyin' (1992), That's Right! (1993), The Place To Be (1994), Kaleidoscope (1997) and These Are Soulful Days (1999). He has also recorded for Toshiba - Funky (1997) -and for Telarc with Oscar Peterson - Oscar & Benny (1997).

Benny Green: Then And Now

Read "Then And Now" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo

by Maurizio Zerbo
June 6, 2019

L'interesse del cinquantacinquenne pianista statunitense è qui rivolto a recuperare la migliore lezione della fusion, in voga negli Settanta. Quella di Chick Corea, Bob James e Hubert Laws, solo per fare qualche nome, che flirtava felicemente con il jazz e la musica brasiliana all'insegna della distesa ma squisita musicalità. Ne discende un progetto di grande piacevolezza, soprattutto nelle note lunghe e trasognate del flauto, in un bell'intreccio polifonico con la vocalist Veronica Swift. È questo il vero valore aggiunto del ...

Album Review

Benny Green: Live in Santa Cruz

Read "Live in Santa Cruz" reviewed by Luigi Sforza

by Luigi Sforza
May 3, 2017

Di sicuro Benny Green è un pianista dalle eccellenti doti. Vulcanico, inventivo, tecnicamente impeccabile, in Live in Santa Cruz Green declina in maniera eccelsa il linguaggio tradizionale del jazz. Elaborate con gusto e senso della melodia, le nove tracce del disco dichiarano la loro appartenenza al mondo hard bop. Nel fraseggiare con scioltezza e decisione insieme, Green elargisce generosamente cascate di note, che in un profluvio di sequenze sonore creano un sound muscolare e pulsante. Che si tratti di medium ...

Album Review

Benny Green: Happiness!

Read "Happiness!" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
April 3, 2017

Happiness is listening to Benny Green. He brings joie de vivre to the piano keys with his Herculean chops, in-the-pocket soulfulness, and tight arrangements, all of which can be heard in spades on this live date. The scene for this spirited recording was the Kuumbwa Jazz Center--a gem of a venue in California that's been a near-annual stop for Green for more than three decades. This particular event, taking place in June of 2016, found him in ...

Album Review

Benny Green: Live In Santa Cruz

Read "Live In Santa Cruz" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 24, 2015

We hope you've made the journey these past thirty plus years with pianist Benny Green. From hotshot young lion to keeper of the jazz flame he has consistently electrified audiences with his live performances. Live In Santa Cruz recorded at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center follows up on a recording he made as bassist Ray Brown's sideman twenty years ago. Green built a career, first as an apprentice to Betty Carter, then Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, then Brown. His career as ...

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Album Review

Benny Green Trio: Source

by Larry Taylor
May 16, 2011

Benny Green, now 48, is entering his middle years. Early on he was hailed as a budding master; today he has fully blossomed into one of the jazz world's finest pianists. Equally comfortable with a fast-paced piece and or a sensitive ballad, he is a go-to guy for sessions as back-up or leader. His last recordings were as a co-leader, in duo with guitarist Russell Malone, hailed for the exquisite interplay of Jazz at The Bistro (2003) and Bluebird (2004), ...

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Album Review

Benny Green: Source

Read "Source" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
May 7, 2011

Pianist Benny Green has not been in the studio leading a recording date since his collaboration with Russell Malone, Bluebird (Telarc, 2004). Far from stagnating, Green has most recently been found providing support on recordings like Hilary Kole's You Are There (Justin Time, 2010), Kenny Burrell's Be Yourself (HighNote , 2010) and Anat Cohen's Clarinetworks: Live at the Village Vanguard All this adds up to his attractiveness to Jazz Legacy Productions, a label that specializes in recording ...

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Profile

Benny Green: Teaching Jazz to the Next Generation

by Victor Verney
June 4, 2006

After exhibiting great potential as a young pianist during his teens on the San Francisco jazz scene, Benny Green, long regarded as one of the most promising wunderkinds of jazz piano, spent his twenties serving apprenticeships with a virtual pantheon of musical giants. During his thirties, Green fulfilled his early promise, making the transition from sideman to a headline act in his own right. Now, in a small college auditorium in Des Moines, the student had become Zen master, and ...

Recording

Benny Green's New Album, 'Solo'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 15, 2023

What sets Benny Green apart from many jazz pianists today is that he plays with his heart. By this, I don't mean soul. Most jazz pianists play with soul. It comes with the territory. With Benny, you can hear his emotions through his fingers. There's crying in there, bliss, melancholy, elation and wistfulness. On his new album, Solo (Sunnyside), we hear the entire range on 11 smartly chosen songs. Benny's gift is the product of an early start and seasoning ...
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