No matter the zip code, vocalist and trumpeter Benny Benack III is the purveyor of the hang. In this episode, we chat about throwing caution to the wind to pursue “pie-in-the-sky” projects, we start the manifestation of the many projects that will surely result in a Bachelor-esque “BB3-Nation”, and an impromptu cutting session that may very well lead to a jazz spin-off of “Epic Rap Battles of History”. Watch the interview on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/ChristianWiggs
Travel Mode: Engaged! Jazz Shark Tank! The Pursuit of Verification!
No matter the zip code, vocalist and trumpeter Benny Benack III is the purveyor of the hang. In this episode, we chat about throwing caution to the wind to pursue “pie-in-the-sky” projects, we start the manifestation of the many projects that will surely result in a Bachelor-esque “BB3-Nation”, and an impromptu cutting session that may very well lead to a jazz spin-off of “Epic Rap Battles of History”.
FEATURED RELEASE:
Benny Benack III
“A Lot of Livin’ to Do” (2020)
Getting to Know: Benny Benack III!
Benny Benack III is a trumpet player and vocalist based in New York City. Benny performs widely as a frontman for Postmodern Jukebox, the vintage music collective famed for canny old-school covers of modern pop. In early 2020, he released A Lot of Livin’ to Do, the follow-up to his well-received 2017 debut album One of a Kind, which features bassist Christian McBride and drummer/producer Ulysses Owens, Jr., as well as Takeshi Ohbayashi on piano and Rhodes.
Benny has been showcased in international tours at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, JALC’s “NY Jazz All-Stars” (Mexico) and extensively throughout Asia and Europe and has headlined festivals around the U.S. Benny has been featured at Birdland, Mezzrow, Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle and other leading New York venues. He has played in the house band for NBC’s “Maya & Marty,” and appeared as a multi-genre trumpet soloist with the Christian McBride Big Band, Diplo/Major Lazer, Ann Hampton Callaway, Melissa Errico, Josh Groban, Ben Folds, fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi and more.
Benny was a 2014 finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition, and winner of the 2011 Carmine Caruso International Trumpet Competition. He is a clinician and educator, leading workshops for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People program, as well as the New York Youth Symphony’s Education department. In 2020 he led a panel at the annual Jazz Congress on Audience Engagement, together with Christian McBride, Marilyn Maye and Veronica Swift.
Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel here!