David L. Abell Memorial Jazz Salons Present
Benny Green
June 16, 2008
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Lenart Auditorium
Here receiving the Musician's Musician Award
from Kenny Burrell, Director, UCLA Jazz Studies.
Friends of Jazz Executive Director, Kenny Burrell, also presented Benny with the Musician's Musician, a lifetime achievement award befitting his extraordinary talents (video below).
See photos from the concert
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Part 1 – Benny Green arts report courtesy of official media sponsor KJZZ-FM |
1:18 minutes |
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Part 2 – Benny Green arts report courtesy of official media sponsor KJZZ-FM |
1:08 minutes |
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Going Green
19 JUN 08 ANNE FARNSWORTH on AMERICAN SONGBOOK
Pianist Benny Green delighted an enrapt audience with a solo recital in the intimate confines of UCLA's Fowler Museum recital hall. Moving through two sets of standards, he demonstrated not only his well-documented technical prowess, but also a deep understanding and command of the stylistic language of jazz piano. MORE
BENNY GREEN
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Monday, June 16, 2008
By Wen Mew
WENJAZ
Benny Green (born April 4, 1963 in New York City) is considered a hard bop jazz pianist who "graduated" from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He has been compared to Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson and cites them as influences. Benny grew up in Berkeley, California, home of many great jazz expatriates, MICHAEL WOLF, DAVID MURRAY, PETER AFFLEBAUM, JON FADDIS, LINCOLN GOINES, ALEX FOSTER, the entire EAST BAY and SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA has generated scores of great jazz musicians, most of whom owe their education to and the teachings of mentors cited by Benny last night DICK WHITTINGTON, PHIL HARDIMAN, DR. BILL BELL, ED KELLY, THE LATE SMITH DOBSON and the jazz radio station KKJZ, PAT HENRY, HERB WONG ET AL.
Coming from an extremely modest home Benny's first classical teacher told his parents "the kid doesn't want to read. He wants to improvise". So Dick Whittington began helping Benny in the fourth grade. Benny learned to read, and all of the above helped him, but most important BENNY HAD A PASSION FOR THE KEYS.
As a little kid, he loved to sit at the piano and create his own melodies, feel the vibrations go through his arms, play with all the keys, all 88, and that BENNY DOES.
For each tune beginning with TIME AFTER TIME, Benny's playing exemplifies the HISTORY OF JAZZ PIANO from the striders to MCCOY TYNER AND BEYOND. We were blessed with the history of jazz piano on nearly every tune plus some thrilling, split second two handed lyrical bebop lines, just incredible stuff from Benny.
After high school Benny spent time in San Francisco Bay Area, but he knew he had to go to the BIG APPLE because he wanted to play with ART BLAKELY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS FROM THE TIME HE WAS 14 YEARS OLD, WATCHING THE MESSENGERS AT THE KEYSTONE KORNER AND VISUALIZING HIMSELF PLAYING WITH THE BEBOP MASTER.
So at 20 years old, Benny set out for NYC with that in mind, TO PLAY WITH ART BLAKLEY. He would learn Art's repertoire; be ready to sub at a moment's notice, and he got his chance.
the night before he was to debut with BETTY CARTER, Johnny O’Neil, then Art's pianist called Benny to say he was stuck in Detroit and asked Benny to sub for him. Benny played and passed with flying colors, and Art's wife asked him to join the band, but Benny had already committed to BETTY CARTER. So being an honorable guy from Berkeley, he turned down the OFFER HE WANTED ALL HIS LIFE.
But in the end, everything turned out well as you can see in the discography below. Benny's maturing occurred during the 70s when I lived in Chicago; so when I returned to the Bay Area, I knew nothing about the BENNY GREEN or his storied youth, except my teacher DR. BILL BELL told me of his contribution to the evolvement of one of the East Bay's greatest exports to the JAZZ WORLD.
Benny who listens to everyone cites Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal, Phineas Newborn, Bud Powell, MCCOY TYNER and Oscar Peterson as prime influences.
On this beautiful SoCal evening Benny delicately began with TIME AFTER TIME, taking his time, a few notes in the beginning, laying the OSCAR runs, a little quote from " a beautiful girl", moving into stride for a few choruses, inserting a little BUD POWELL, building a groove, momentum, going out a little harmonically, the delicacy and touch of a BILL EVANS, a little TEDDY WILSON, EARL FATHA HINES, ERROLL GARNER, DAVE BRUBECK, and of course OSCAR, the swing of BILLY TAYLOR whose A BIENTOT was performed later in the set in ballad style, (I’ll give you a BOSSA NOVA version sometime this week.), a little McCoy, even Cecil Taylor, returning to the impressionism of Evans, the bop of BUD POWELL, HERBIE HANCOCK, maybe even the harmony of a FRED HERSCH, and the dazzle of CHICK COREA.
MICHELLE LEGRAND'S "PIECES OF A DREAM" opened with a little swing, stride, then Bop, changing the tempo as Benny moved from chorus to chorus, inserting his Oscar runs, laying down the walking bass line, then the bebop right hand, then both hands simultaneous bebop runs, alternating between right hand bop lines, and both hands contributing beautiful lines, gorgeous block chords, just incredible piano playing, always showing great dynamics as appropriate.
BENNY began TENDERLY delicately and tenderly as KENNY BURRELL would who was sitting in the front row. But unlike Kenny who has only a few strings to work with, Benny has ten fingers and 88 keys. And he uses all his fingers and all the keys. He lays out the Oscar runs in introducing the theme rubato, lays out the melody and answers himself, and as he goes into tempo expressing the beautiful theme, (actually the first ballad I ever learned, and my mom's favorite.) he begins his exploration of the piece which became ROSEMARY CLOONEY'S THEME SONG, (his favorite quote seems to be "a beautiful girl",) always delicately and tenderly, and closing it out as he started, rubato. Benny takes it out note by note, and there's where we horn players have one advantage, we can take one note and express it like JOHNNY HODGES and try and give you an entire scale out of one note. Benny can only touch the keys and use the pedal.
Benny's OSCAR RUNS, two handed virtuosity introduced YOURS IS MY HEART ALONE (another tune which I will try and record this week.), a real swinger which exemplified the BENNY GREEN TWO HANDED DAZZLE, and so fast it made your head spin.
The aforementioned BILLY TAYLOR'S A BIENTOT was introduced via stride, and I’ve played it and never really appreciated the nuances of this melody until now. Again you hear Oscar, Bud Powell, Billy Taylor, Dave Brubeck, Earl Fatha Hines, Erroll Garner, the dexterity of a CHICK COREA.
WILLOW WEEP FOR ME, again the Oscar intro, DUKE ELLINGTON, BILLY STRAYHORN, EARL FATHA HINES, ERROLL GARNER, Benny lays out the bluesy melody at a medium four with walking bass, stride, emphasizing the blues.
BENNY closed out the first set with I'M BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT, displaying again incredible virtuosity.