Tag "Ray Brown"

  • Interview with Jazz Musician Benny Green

    9-27-11

    Benny Green is in love with jazz music. A student of the roots of jazz, Benny says that while the people who created it were often despised, their music was beloved, even by those who despised its creators. And so he calls it a “victorious music.” As a small child Benny picked out notes on the piano that he heard on the Thelonious Monk records his father loved to play. His fate was sealed – he would be a jazz musician – the real thing. Benny says he was fortunate enough to be “lead” to teachers, mentors, and “musical parents” like Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, and Betty Carter, who validated his place in jazz music. Listen to this gentle yet passionate musician talk about the music and the culture of jazz, and hear his remarkable fingers on the piano when I play a couple of cuts from his most recent CD called Source..

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