Denver jazz fans, it's time to get to Dazzle! Well, that's ususally true, but it's especially true on Saturday and Sunday, February 12 and 13. The Benny Green Trio, featuring Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums, will be holding court at 7PM and 9PM on Saturday, and 6PM and 8PM on Sunday. One listen to Green's latest album, Source (available, of course, at Denver's best independent record store, Twist and Shout), would be enough to entice any fan of the best in mainstream jazz to attend, but a recent telephone interview with the pianist reveals so much more to like about this artist.
A genuinely enthusiastic artist, Green draws the interviewer in with his sincerity, wit, and humility. His Denver appearance follows a lengthy tour of the Far East and starts a short tour of western North America, which prompted this writer to ask about the difficulty of such travel. "Jet lag is not really an issue for me," said Green. "It's what I do for a living. I've been travelling internationally for almost 30 years so far, so if I was feeling victimized by time zones, I couldn't function optimally, in a professional sense."
Talk turned to his early days as a professional musician. "I moved to New York at 19 with the specific aspiration of being a Jazz Messenger (drummer Art Blakey's long-running, hard-bop "graduate school" for young jazz geniuses). I saw them live at the [legendary jazz club] Keystone Korner in San Francisco, and I envisioned myself up there on the stand, in the piano chair."
Benny's path to Blakey detoured through the backing band for the celebrated vocalist Betty Carter, purported to be, like Blakey, one of the music's most demanding bosses. Was she? "Heck, yeah", Green laughs. "But it was great training, because we'd be called upon to play every tempo and every key on that gig. She really challenged [you], and would call you out on your 'licks' and pet tricks to get the audience's attention. She challenged you to come up with something fresh every time. It was great. She really made you think on your toes. She was tough." He played with Carter from 1983 to 1987.
As for his Blakey Jazz Messenger dreams, Green says, "Had it not been for those four years with Betty, I wouldn't have been musically prepared to even begin to play with Art. Once I joined him, it was like starting over again from scratch, going from acccompanying a singer to an instrumental sextet with three horns and his incredibly propulsive drumming."
These reminiscences caused Green to muse, "Young folks today don't have those opportunities; a training ground of a band like Betty's or Art's that travels and tours and is an institution. That's all but extinct now. Having those opportunities is how a jazz musician should develop." (Emphasis his.)
Benny's concern for the young musician turned to one of this writer's personal causes, the demise of the local record store. "Even before CD's, with LP's, you had liner notes where you could found out about the artist and other records. It's sad that people won't be able to do that anymore."
How about his own long-standing trio? "Playing with Kenny and Peter inspires me. I'd like to think we're all about the same stuff. So when we come to Denver, that's when the magic will commence for me." And it's a very special magic. Don't miss out on your opportunity to see authentic jazz, as played by three very wonderful men, one of whom is just about as nice a guy as you'd ever want to get to know. Get to Dazzle. Now.
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