Jazz Articles about Benny Benack III

About Benny Benack III

Album Review

Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: Kind of Grunge

Read "Kind of Grunge" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 26, 2026

New York-based master drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. is back, Generation Y in tow, with another generous helping of so-called “grunge jazz" deftly transformed to straight-ahead patterns in a style similar to that of the legendary Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. This is not, however, precisely the same Generation Y that recorded the well-received album, Around the World with U, for the Cellar Music Group earlier in 2026. The lone holdover besides Owens is the versatile pianist Tyler ...

Album Review

Louise Alexandra: Crazy World of Love

Read "Crazy World of Love" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
June 1, 2026

The release of Crazy World of Love marks a new chapter for Louise Alexandra, a jazz vocalist whose artistry is as deep as her background is unconventional. Splitting her time between the vanguard of medical science and the timeless traditions of jazz, Alexandra is a Dutch-American vocalist, songwriter, and active cancer research scientist. For over 15 years, she built a formidable reputation within Boston's highly competitive biotech and jazz circuits before returning to the Netherlands, where she continues to develop ...

Album Review

Various Artists: Swinging In The Holidays

Read "Swinging In The Holidays" reviewed by Jim Trageser

by Jim Trageser
December 12, 2025

With a warm, wood-paneled vintage glow, a new Christmas collection inhabits the space formerly reserved for top-flight crooners like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett: blending pop and jazz into comfort food for your ears. While few of the “next-gen" (as the album's publicity tag puts it) performers here will be known to those unfamiliar with the contemporary New York City scene, their chops are undeniable and the arrangements flattering to the performers' strengths.

Radio & Podcasts

Benny Benack III, Brandee Younger, Something Blue, Robert Glasper and more

by Benjamin Boddie
July 9, 2025

Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Benny Benack III, Brandee Younger, Mike Clark & Mike Zilber, Ola Onabule/Nicolas Meier, Something Blue, Diego Rivera, Robert Glasper, Tessa Souter, Michael Dease, Clifford Jordan, Cyrus Chestnut, Mark Masters Ensemble, John Clayton, Hot Toddies Jazz Band, Planet D Nonet, Behn Gillece, Bobby West, NYO Jazz, Pete McGuinness, Rob Clearfield, Tyreek McDole, Kristina Koller, Neff Irizarry, Ben Sidran, Gerald Clayton, and more. Playlist Benny Benack III “Song For Our Roger" from This Is ...

Radio & Podcasts

Claire Daly, Mary Lou Williams, Stella Cole & Benny Benack III

by Joe Dimino
November 10, 2024

Dive into the vibrant world of jazz with Episode 879 of Neon Jazz. Kicking off with the multi-talented Benny Benack III, we'll explore music from his 2023 album Third Time's the Charm. Next, meet the dynamic young phenom Stella Cole, currently touring with Benny and recently lighting up the stage at Kansas City's Folly Theater in late October 2024. The episode flows into the timeless sounds of jazz greats like Janis Siegel, Rebecca Kilgore, and Cathy Segal-Garcia, before introducing a ...

Album Review

Zachary Bartholomew: Balancing Act

Read "Balancing Act" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
September 18, 2024

Miami-based jazz pianist Dr. Zachary Bartholomew is an award-winning musician, composer and educator at Florida Memorial University with a breadth of musical performances with such luminaries as the late Kevin Mahogany, John Beasley, David Liebman, Brian Lynch, Dafnis Prieto and Dave Holland among others. What Bartholomew had not done until this album is produce a recording of his own as leader. Balancing Act is the pianist's debut album after six years in the planning, and what a recording it is. ...

Album Review

Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat

Read "A New Beat" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 19, 2024

The rhythms presented on award-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr.'s latest album are not exactly A New Beat, as they have been heard in various configurations for at least eighty years or more, but they do provide a plausible indication of the path that Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers would presumably have followed had Blakey lived into the twenty-first century. Owens, who teaches at the Juilliard School in New York City, has a knack for spotting and encouraging ...