Benny Green
Benny Green
Hard-bop jazz artist who gained recognition as a member of Betty Carter's band and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPianist
Date of Birth4 April 1963
CityNew York City, NY
british-musician brought color found nuance playing shading supportive
Once I actually started playing with him, I found out how very supportive he was, how much color and shading and nuance he brought to the music.
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Any time I need to get a serious attitude adjustment, I put on one of their records, and there are examples there for all time to keep us honest and keep us reaching; they'll never be eclipsed.
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He would catapult you forward, and that was his intention with the Jazz Messengers. He would take young people with a potential and help them develop a voice as a player and as a writer.
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Like Russell, I enjoy the fact that when I'm playing solo, if I want to do something completely spontaneous, I don't have to worry about how I'm going to cue the other musicians, or if it's something that's rehearsed.
benny british-musician met time
No, that's not it. The first time we met was at Fat Tuesday's. Benny was playing, this was, I think in 1989?
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Prior to that, I had associated this music with older people, like my father.
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I didn't know when I was growing up that this was a very special program, that this wasn't going on in other parts of the country. Now I realize that I was lucky.
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I'm naturally going to react to that and he'll bring out elements in my musical character that were lying dormant, because I'm relating what he's playing.
british-musician gave gives passed people rest
Just to have that sense of family, it gives you something that you know you need to take care of for the rest of your life. People gave it to him, and he passed it on to us.
british-musician russell talk
You know, there're no rules between Russell and I. We don't want to have to have to talk too much, because it's really precious, really special to play music.