Feature: The Days Of Cabaret Gratitude - Day Two - The Swinger

The Days Of Cabaret Gratitude

Day Two:  The Swinger - Benny Benack III

Benny Benack III is a guy.  He’s THAT guy.  He’s the cool guy with the dimples and the devilish twinkle and the smooth moves but the even smoother voice.  Benny Benack is the guy everyone wants to be friends with and he's the guy everyone wants to sing with and he’s the guy everyone wants to see in the clubs.  Benny Benack III is one of the men of the jazz industry who doesn’t just keep the rooms full of patrons, ready, willing, and anxious to take in one of his incredible jazz sets,.  He keeps it fun, he keeps it fresh, and he keeps it ever-evolving.  Benny Bencak is one of the young artists on the jazz scene that makes it a pleasure to be a jazz aficionado, even for the newcomers to the scene, many of whom may just be new on the scene because they found Benny Benack The Third.

Benny Benack isn’t just the third in a line of men with the same name, he is part of a generational dynasty of jazz proficients, but he isn’t standing in anyone’s shadow - Benny is proudly carrying on the name and the music, and in his own way, a modern way, a young-man way, but very much informed by the men who came before, and not just Dad and Grandad.  There is a sense of history with Benny, one that gives rise in a person thoughts of singers from the past like Sinatra and Martin, that’s how sultry and nuanced his voice is, but also of singing trumpeters along the lines of, dare we say it, Chet Baker.  With his present-day spin on old world fashions, his debonair air, and his musical selections pulled from The Songook, he harkens back to their era with more whimsy than Baker had, less attitude than Sinatra had, and just about the same jocularity that Martin had, but definitely similar sounds than they all had.  But it is in the sounds where Benny rises to his own occasion, mastering new treatments of old chestnuts and writing (yes, he writes, too) classics for today that will slide right into the lexicon for future artists, some of them as future as next week, as people look around, take note, and say to themselves, “Oooh, I wanna sing THAT.”

In performance, Benack The Third is a treat for the eyes -and it isn’t the devastatingly handsome face, it’s what happens to that face then the music is playing.  It’s a pleasure to watch an artist so deeply immerse themselves in the music.  When he is playing, it’s all about the ears - such sounds from the horn and the voice melt ya like buttah.  But when Benny is on the stage with other people (be it a Benack show or a group show) and it isn’t his turn at bat, he listens to his colleagues, pure appreciation playing across his face, eyes closed in a private reverie, eyebrows raised, brow furrowed, and, at times, head swaying back and forth in tacit approval.  He has come to play, but he has also come to play WITH… and that gives the audience a glimpse into who he is as a man: a person who loves his work and who appreciates his fellow musicians.  

In every circumstance, be it solo show, group show, or one of his albums (3 solo and 1 Christmas CD with Steven Feifke), BB3 is plain old BB - the Best in the Business.

 

Read a Broadway World Cabaret review of Benny Benack III HERE

On November 3rd Benny has a new holiday big band single called "Hug Your Snowman" dropping on all digital streaming platforms, and on November 23rd (Benny's birthday!), he has a single in collaborating with the super famous K-Pop star "Zion.T" on a track called "The Things I Love" as a featured artist. 

Benny's new album from June "Third Time's the Charm" is still on the JazzWeek Radio Charts after 15 weeks, and is a favorite in the running for a GRAMMY Nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, nominees to be announced November 13th.

Benny will be appearing at Dizzy's Club on November 30th, December 1st & 2nd for the Late Night Series at 11pm each night.  The Dizzy's Club website is HERE.

Benny’s pronouns are he/him/his.

Benny can be found online at the following links:

Website:  HERE 

Instagram:  HERE 

Facebook:  HERE  

Twitter:  HERE

TikTok:  HERE

YouTube:  HERE

Photos by Stephen Mosher

To post a comment, you must register and login.