Jazz Articles about Benny Green

About Benny Green

Album Review

There are pianists who play solo because they have something to prove, and then there are pianists like Benny Green, who have nothing to prove and regard the absence of a rhythm section as an invitation. On Renovation, his first live solo recording, Green seems to be enjoying himself. Most of these 13 performances were recorded before an audience at Dizzy's Club in New York City and have the immediacy of an artist thinking out loud, taking a musical idea ...

Album Review

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 ...

Album Review

Benny Green: Source

Read "Source" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 16, 2011

In una carriera trentennale Benny Green ha inciso oltre un centinaio dischi come sideman ma poco più di una decina da leader. Dalla prima metà degli anni duemila, quando realizzò i lavori in duo col chitarrista Russell Malone (Jazz at the Bistro del 2002 e Bluebird del 2004) il pianista non entrava in sala incisione e se cerchiamo un precedente in trio bisogna risalire a These Are Soulful Days del 1999. Presentando questo lavoro, lo stesso Green scrive nelle note ...

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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), ...