Search - Benny Green :: The Place To Be

Excellent

G. Sawaged | Canada | 06/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Benny Green is a brilliant jazz pianist and composer. This 1994 album includes Christian McBride on bass and Kenny Washington on drums, as well as 3 tracks which include a larger ensemble. 3 tracks are played solo, while one is a duet with McBride. 5 of the songs on here were written by Benny Green. This album is my first introduction to Benny so I do not know too much about him yet. But if this album is anything to go on, I shall definately be buying more. This is a very easy to listen to album with a variety of styles, even an arrangement of a traditional children's rhyme. Recommended for anyone who enjoys jazz in the style of Oscar Peterson."

Bravo Benny

Jazzcat | Genoa, Italy Italy | 05/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm really happy to write this review because I own this record since 1994 and at this point I can say that I know it very well. It's a great jazz album. The first two tunes, "Nice pants" and "Playmate" are wonderful fast tunes, very entertaining and a perfect presentation for a new young pianist (at the time he was a newcomer in the Jazz firmament). The third tune is a ballad by Billy Eckstine, "I want to talk about you". It's a very nice treatment the one Benny reservs to this wonderful ballad, with a light orchestration in some points behind him. The program goes on with a nice variety between standards, quite interesting originals by Jazz greats such as Freddie Hubbard and Oscar Peterson (tunes not very abused and proposed to death) and original tunes by Bennie himself. Bennie is a technical but very sensitive pianist. He's melodical but never really predictable. I like his style very much, a very balanced and interesting way of playing. "The place to be" and "I felt that" are two more originals by Bennie. They are again nice colourful bluesy tunes, ... the first is Benny alone at the piano. It reminds me of that sort of bluesy gospel pianism (but Jazzy of course) that every amateur player would like to master. Benny obviously is a master, I'm saying that his playing is melodical and seems easy, but instead it's glorious american piano that we don't have to take for granted. The second original is a more hard bop tune played with the band (and with the big band behind), something similar to some Horace Silver tunes. Very nice. I love Benny's improvisational style he's sophisticated, technical, clean, intelligent but very swinging and funny. The album is long and various I leave to you to discover the many faces of this pianist. I can suggest the purchase of the album for sure, because it is very refined jazz, very entertaining and various and even if it's not an historical date, it has its strong jazz value. Bravo Benny!"