Benny Green

Benny Green: Wednesday June 12th @ U of R Old Campus Rm 139 Advance $50 At the door $60 (doors open 6:30, Gary Guthman Quartet 7pm, Benny Green 8:30)

Benny Green possesses the history of jazz at his fingertips. Combine mastery of keyboard technique with decades of real world experience playing with no one less than the most celebrated artists of the last half century, and it’s no wonder Green has been hailed as perhaps the most exciting hard-swinging, hard-bop pianist to ever emerge from Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

Benny Green, unconditionally, is the bearer of the torch and guardian of a legacy handed down to him, personally, by his musical mentors. His most recent recordings, Live in Santa Cruz (2015) and Magic Beans (2012) (Sunnyside) are shining examples of his brilliance. Since emerging under the tutelage of Betty Carter, Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard and Ray Brown in the early 1980s, Benny Green has become a highly regarded pianist and bandleader. His efforts to expand upon the language of the classical jazz canon have placed him not only among the best interpreters but also among the vanguard of musicians keeping jazz’s evolution going.

Born in New York in 1963, Benny Green grew up in Berkeley, California, and began classical piano studies at the age of seven. Influenced by his father, a tenor saxophonist, his attention soon turned to Jazz: “I began trying to improvise on the piano, imitating the records I’d been hearing from my father’s collection, which included a lot of Monk and Bird… it was a gradual process of teaching myself”. Benny never looked back and never stopped learning as his blossoming talents, supported by mentors such as Walter Bishop, Jr. and others, plus his love for the music propelled him to the upper strata of jazz luminaries.

Benny’s list of credits, accomplishments, and accolades could literally fill a book. His recordings with the masters form a foundation of jazz education. Some notable highlights include: Beginning his touring life with Betty Carter for four years and realizing a life long dream of becoming a Jazz Messenger; In 1993 Oscar Peterson chose Benny as the first recipient of the City of Toronto’s Glen Gould International Protégé Prize in Music culminating in Oscar & Benny (1998) recorded for Telarc. Appearing on well over one hundred recordings, with legacy artists such as: Betty Carter (including Grammy award winner Look What I Got), Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Watson, Milt Jackson, Diana Krall, and he is particularly featured in Ray Brown’s trio series of CD’s for Telarc: Bass Face (1993), Don’t get Sassy (1994), Some of my best friends … (1994), Seven Steps to Heaven (1995), Super Bass (1996) and Live at Sculler’s(1996), to fresh faces like Japan’s young drum virtuouso, Tiger Onitsuka.

As the leader of his own groups, Benny’s recording career began with two albums for the Dutch label Criss Cross: Prelude (1988) and In This Direction (1989). In 1990 Green started recording for Blue Note: Lineage (1990), Greens (1991), Testifiyin’ (1992), That’s Right! (1993), The Place To Be (1994), Kaleidoscope (1997) and These Are Soulful Days (1999). In 2000, his debut recording on Telarc Jazz entitled Naturally was released, which featured bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Russell Malone. In 2001, Green’s Blues, a solo piano date and in 2003 Jazz at the Bistro (Telarc), a duo recording Malone, followed by Bluebird (2004) again pairing Green with Malone. A hiatus from recording produced Benny’s 2011 trio date, Source (JLP).

GARY GUTHMAN

In  the early 1980’s, Gary Guthman moved to Canada, originally from Portland Oregon. Within the next few years, he became known as one of Canada’s premier lead and commercial trumpeters, playing on over 100, televised “ITV IN Concert” performances as well as numerous radio shows, jingles, movie sound tracks and in concert. Gary performed on television with Tom Jones, Paul Anka , directed the jazz program at the University of  British Columbia in Vancouver and formed his  renowned “Tribute Orchestra”.

1995 saw the inception of  Gary Guthman’s hit show  “A Tribute To Harry James”, followed by the creation of his  “Trumpet Greats”  in 1998,  “Swingmatism!” in 2004 and in 2007 for Internationally renowned harpist Malgorzata Zalewska, his critically acclaimed  “Master and Margarita”.

From 1998-2001, Gary was the Musical Director and starred in the North American Musical Theatre Revue “Forever Swing” and won a distinguished Canadian “Jesse” Award.

In 2004, Gary debuted by invitation at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, conducted by Skitch Henderson.

Since moving to Central Europe, Gary has given over 250 concerts with his “Gary Guthman Quartet” and “The New Swing Orchestra” as well as Symphonic Pops concerts.

In 2011, Gary released his next CD entitled “Solar Eclipse” on the Polski Radio Jazz Label, featuring his quartet of world-class Polish jazz artists Filip Wojciechowski/piano, Paweł Pańta/Bass, Cezary Konrad/Drums. Gary Guthman is the only non-Polish jazz artist to release his own CD in the 95-year history of Polish Radio.

In 2014, along with his co-writer Doman Nowakowski, Gary composed the Libretto, Music and Lyrics for a new musical entitled “Letter From Warsaw”.  Projected premier date is January/2017 at Polish Theatre in Warsaw (Poland).

In 2015, Gary began an association as Producer and Composer for vocal star Sasha Strunin. Their current Cd project “Woman in Black” was released to high critical acclaim in 2016 and her new project, a tribute to renowned Polish poet Miron Białoszewksi, will be released in the Spring of 2019.