Benny Benack III Quartet

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A dynamic trumpet player and swinging vocalist, Benny Benack III is perhaps most widely known as a singer with the touring sensation that is Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. But Benack is also making a name for himself in the jazz world as both a charismatic interpreter of standards and a songwriter/arranger; on his most recent album, A Lot of Livin’ to Do, he manages to put a jazz sheen on “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” aka the theme to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Benack finishes a brief Midwest tour at Cafe CODA accompanied by a trio led by Chicago pianist Jeremy Kahn; tickets here.

media release: Wrapping up a Midwest tour that will have taken him to six cities including premier jazz clubs in Chicago and.Minneapolis, 30-year-old Benny Benack III returns to the intimate setting of Cafe CODA (1224 Williamson Street on Madison's Near East Side) on Sunday evening, 6/27 (7:00pm) accompanied by a trio led by the great Jeremy Kahn, Chicago's "first call" pianist for touring jazz musicians.  Tickets are $25.00/person and can be purchased here or at the door, but only 99 tickets will be sold.

At 30 years of age, Benny is a key part of the community of great young players breathing new life into New York City's legendary jazz scene.  Benny was a finalist in the 2014 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition and just won Third Prize in the 2021 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, the first male jazz singer to win one of the top prizes in this prestigious competition's history.

Here are two samples of Benny’s performances with several of these top young New York City musicians: on trumpet from a recent house concert in Harlem (starting with the second tune, “On The Trail,” from the “Grand Canyon Suite”), and on vocals (“Social Call,” a duet with vocalist Veronica Swift with Christian McBride on bass) from his most recent album, “A Lot of Livin’ to Do.”

Veteran pianist Jeremy Kahn has performed with many jazz luminaries over the years, including Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, Branford Marsalis, Phil Woods, Charlie Haden, Bobby Watson, Nicholas Payton, Marquis Hill, Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Turre, Curtis Fuller, Ray Brown, Christian McBride, Kenny Clarke, Tito Puente, Sheila Jordan, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Karrin Allyson, and Mary Stallings, as well as pop giants like Joni Mitchell and Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin.  Jeremy was also honored to be a guest on Marian McPartland's long-running NPR program, "PianoJazz,"