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Benny Lackner Trio: Sign of the Times
by Dan McClenaghan
New York-based pianist Benny Lackner came to my attention with the innovative jazz/pop outing Migratory (HeadFullaBrains, 2002) by Maroon, the group he co-leads with vocalist Hillary Maroon. That disc didn't make the splash it deserved, but in the music we loosely define as jazz, big splashes are fairly rare.Fast forward a few years--past another even more innovative Maroon outing, Who the Sky Betrays (HeadFullaBrains, 2003), and two earlier Lackner trios discs, and we find that Benny Lackner has ...
Continue ReadingBenny Lackner Trio: Not the Same
by Jeff Stockton
Pianist Benny Lackner's conception of the jazz trio places his music somewhere between the Bad Plus and Matthew Shipp's nu bop, with a smattering of Brad Mehldau in the crevices. His entirely original but vaguely familiar compositions serve as rest stops that space apart his trio's flashy, attention-grabbing covers. He and his band work wonders with “Moanin' : Derek Nievergelt's tricked-out bass line and Lackner's electronica splats and keyboard smears should serve as inspiration for an entirely ...
Continue ReadingBenny Lackner Trio: Not the Same
by John Kelman
Pianist Benny Lackner has made some waves in the past couple of years for his work in the genre-bending pop/jazz group Maroon, but it is with Not the Same that he finally gets the chance to step out and prove his mettle in the piano trio format. The piano trio has received some invigorating new blood in recent years with the fresh approaches of groups including the Bad Plus and E.S.T., and, to be certain, Lackner's vision fits within that ...
Continue ReadingBenny Lackner Trio: Benny Lackner Trio
by Dan McClenaghan
I think Mingus would have liked the opener on The Benny Lackner Trio. Lackner and colleagues take on his classic "Moanin'" with a fuzzy bass groove and quirky pots and pans (literally) serving as percussion.Keyboardist Benny Lackner burst onto the scene on one of last year's finest recordings, vocalist Hillary Maroon's Migratory, which offered a blend of M-Based rhythms and avant-jazz with the occasional rock/pop sensibilites. With a follow-up to that near classic CD in the works, Lackner ...
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