Benny Green Piano Solo

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Photo courtesy of Jamboree.

New Yorker Benny Green has been one of the best-known pianists on the jazz scene since the 1980s. A brilliant instrumentalist since childhood, Green learned to play jazz very young by memorizing solos by Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and other jazz legends.

Before he was 16, he was already accompanying musicians like Fay Carroll. He worked with the trumpeter Eddie Henderson and in a big band led by Chuck Israels. At the beginning of the eighties, he met the pianist Walter Bishop and considers himself one of his followers. Then he worked with Bobby Watson and Betty Carter. He was also a member of the Jazz Messengers (1987-1989) and of Freddie Hubbard’s group from 1989. Later, he replaced Gene Harris in Ray Brown’s famous trio. Supported by Oscar Peterson, in 1993 he won the prestigious Glenn Gould International Protegé Prize. 

In 1997, he began a prolific solo career combined with collaborations with other artists, such as Diana Krall. Highlights of his extensive discography include recordings he made with Ray Brown’s trio, the duet he recorded with Oscar Peterson and the records he made for the Criss Cross label. His style draws on the expressive strength of Errol Gardner, Bud Powell, Phineas Newborn and Peterson himself. Green is truly and indisputably a top jazz pianist.

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