Benny Green - RENOVATION - Drops Friday 9.18.2026

 

Good morning,

Just a note that pianist-composer Benny Green will release Renovation, his new solo piano album, THIS FRIDAY, September 18, 2026 via Sunnyside Records.

Recorded live at Dizzy's Club in New York City, Renovation is Green's first live solo recording, featuring 13 tracks that include eight originals alongside compositions by Bobby Timmons, Randy Weston, Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser, and Matt Dennis and Tom Adair. The album continues a solo piano lineage that began with Green's feature on Art Blakey's Not Yet and continued through his studio recordings Green's Blues and Solo, this time bringing that thread before a live audience. Green has recorded for Blue Note, Telarc, Criss Cross, and Sunnyside, and spent formative years with Betty Carter, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Freddie Hubbard, and the Ray Brown Trio.

Find the full press release and usual assets below, and let me know if you'd like to schedule an interview with Benny. He has a full tour coming up - if Benny is going to be in your area and you'd like to come through, just let me know. 

All the best,
Lydia

OSCAR PETERSON PROTÉGÉ, JAZZ MESSENGER AND ACCLAIMED PIANIST-COMPOSER BENNY GREEN ANNOUNCES RENOVATION

RECORDED LIVE AT DIZZY’S CLUB IN NEW YORK CITY, GREEN’S FIRST LIVE SOLO PIANO ALBUM DRAWS FROM FOUR DECADES OF TRIO LANGUAGE AND BLUE NOTE FEELING

FEATURING EIGHT GREEN ORIGINALS ALONGSIDE PIECES BY BOBBY TIMMONS, RANDY WESTON, HOAGY CARMICHAEL & FRANK LOESSER, AND MATT DENNIS & TOM ADAIR

OUT SEPTEMBER 18, 2026 VIA SUNNYSIDE RECORDS

Pianist, composer and bandleader Benny Green is proud to announce Renovation, his new solo piano album, out September 18, 2026 on Sunnyside Records. Recorded live at Dizzy’s Club in New York City, the 13-track album marks his first live solo recording, with eight Green originals alongside pieces by Bobby Timmons, Randy Weston, Hoagy Carmichael & Frank Loesser, and Matt Dennis & Tom Adair.

“With my performing and recording activities of the past 40-plus years having been primarily centered around piano-bass-drums trios, I embraced the solitude of the 2020 lockdown as a golden opportunity to redirect my instrumental focus toward exploring the expansive freedom that playing solo provides me,” Green says.

“As Harold Mabern Jr. has said, ‘The piano knows what it can do — it wants to hear what you can do,’” he continues. “And I realized that liberated from the inevitable chemistry parameters that are conditionally subjective to whom I’m playing with, I can roam wherever I choose when playing solo, free from the need to cue other members to unscripted, spontaneous musical gear changes in the moment.”

Critics have recognized Green’s authority for decades. Leonard Feather of the Los Angeles Times called Green the “prototypical modern jazzman”; All About Jazz called him “one of the most gifted jazz pianists around” and a “consummate jazz pianist”; and DownBeat, writing on his 2023 Sunnyside album Solo, described “the master pianist in transition.”

Oscar Peterson named Green his protégé in 1992, chose him as the first recipient of Toronto’s Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize in Music, and later invited him to record the two-piano album Oscar and Benny.

Born in New York City in 1963 and raised in Berkeley, California, Green first heard jazz through his father, a tenor saxophonist whose record collection included Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles and many of the music’s founding voices. He began piano lessons at 7, played his first paid performance at 12, made his major concert-stage debut at 15 with the Monterey Jazz Festival High School All-Stars, and by his late teens was working with vocalist Faye Carol and NEA Jazz Master trumpeter Dr. Eddie Henderson.

In 1982, at 19, he returned to New York City, where Walter Bishop Jr. and Walter Davis Jr. mentored him during his first year in town, and where his earliest gigs included work with Barry Altschul, Bobby Watson and Jo Jones Jr.

Betty Carter hired Green in 1983, beginning four years of international touring with the vocalist. He played on her Grammy Award-winning Verve album Look What I Got before joining Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers from 1987 to 1989. He joined Freddie Hubbard’s quintet in 1989 and recorded Live at Fat Tuesday’s with Hubbard in 1992. That same year, he joined the Ray Brown Trio, his longest sideman tenure, remaining with Brown for four and a half years.

As a leader, Green recorded two albums for the Dutch Criss Cross label in the late 1980s before signing with Blue Note Records in 1990, where he made seven leader albums across the decade, plus two for Toshiba-EMI. He went on to record for Telarc, including his 2001 solo piano album Green’s Blues and two duo albums with guitarist Russell Malone. In 1998, Peterson invited Green to record Oscar and Benny. In the 2010s, Green began recording for Sunnyside, with albums including Magic Beans, Live in Santa Cruz, Happiness, Then and Now, Benny’s Crib and Solo.

During Green’s Jazz Messengers tenure, Blakey would sometimes turn off his snare drum and send the other musicians offstage mid-set, leaving Green alone to play a long solo piano medley. In the studio in Milan in 1988, while recording his first album as a member of the Messengers, Blakey also gave him the chance to play what became the only solo piano track in the Jazz Messengers’ discography: “I’ll Never Be the Same,” chosen on the spot after Green had been listening to versions by Art Tatum and by Louis Armstrong with Oscar Peterson.

Green’s recorded solo-piano history before Renovation began with his feature on Blakey’s Not Yet, followed by Green’s Blues in 2001 and Solo in 2022; all were studio recordings. Renovation places that solo thread before an audience.

“In live performance,” Green says, “this newfound freedom allows me to tune in more directly to the mood and vibe of a live audience when I enter a room, so that regardless of whatever I’d preconceived as an opening selection, I can respond untethered by allowing abrupt diversions from my pre-planned choices of selections.”

The title carries several meanings. Musically, Green describes Renovation as a conscious refresh of the setting that has defined much of his working life. Personally, it refers to the renovation of his home in Berkeley, where his family moved in 1968. His wife is overseeing a major project there, adding rooms, building a deck and bringing new love to the 100-year-old house his parents left to him and his sister.

On Renovation, Green channels what he has long loved about piano-bass-drums trios into solo piano: the bassist’s melodic pulse, the drummer’s ride cymbal and snare, and the pianist’s single-note storytelling. He draws on the flowing lines of Sonny Clark, Barry Harris, Cedar Walton and Kenny Barron, and the two-fisted swing of Fats Waller, Erroll Garner, Hank Jones and Ray Bryant. He also admires pianists who treated the instrument, in his words, “in ways not per se intended to impress, but rather to paint.”

As a composer, Green’s reference remains the small-group language that first seized him as a listener: Charlie Parker’s 1947 quintet with Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, Tommy Potter and Max Roach; the classic Blue Note records of the 1950s and ’60s; the Miles Davis Quintets; and the expanded frontlines of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

“When I write,” Green says, “I’m channeling the textures of horns playing melodies together in a quintet or sextet to the piano. My main inspiration as a composer stems especially from classic Blue Note records and the Jazz Messengers. I strive to write singable, swinging melodies that channel some sort of feeling of the blues that a listener can remember.”

Renovation opens with “For Duke Pearson,” a piece that began when Wynton Marsalis commissioned Green to write a new original composition as a big band arrangement for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Premiered at Rose Hall in New York City and later scaled down for solo piano, the piece tips its hat to the titular pianist-composer-arranger — one of Green’s favorites of the 1960s.

“Seoul Station,” a minor-key original theme, combines Green’s love of Blue Note with his affection for jazz audiences in Korea; its title refers to the principal train hub in Korea while nodding to Hank Mobley’s Soul Station. 

“Cedar Would” honors Cedar Walton, one of Green’s foremost heroes as a pianist and composer. “I’ve waited all my life to write something in honor of how much his sound means to me,” Green says, “and I’ve put my heart into this piece.”

“This Here” brings Bobby Timmons directly into the program. While preparing to become a Jazz Messenger, Green listened closely and played along with Blakey bands featuring Horace Silver, Timmons and Walton in the piano chair. On Renovation, Green plays Timmons’ “romping blues waltz,” which he finds to be a perennial audience favorite.

Green also turns to “The Night We Called It a Day,” the Matt Dennis and Tom Adair ballad whose melody has long drawn him in; after hearing Dennis sing and play it online, Green brought its haunted mood into the live recording date at Dizzy’s Club.

For Green, the format harkens back to those nights with Blakey. “This was a character-building challenge,” Green says, “as my solo endeavor was sandwiched between a powerhouse sextet, presented to live audiences, and I needed to maintain a strong level of sound and feeling for the continuity of the shows.

“As Art would remind us, ‘You’ve got to project beyond the floodlights,’” Green recalls. “Meaning not to just play to and for ourselves, but to actually reach into the hearts and minds of our listeners.”

Tracklisting:

1. For Duke Pearson

2. Constitutional

3. Cedar Would

4. This Here

5. Hi-Fly

6. Two Sleepy People

7. Seoul Station

8. Blues for Junior

9. My Girl Bill

10. The Night We Called it a Day

11. Wiggin’

12. Sophy’s Chant

13. Ernie’s Uncle

Tour Dates:

Sept 17 – University of Tennessee Chattanooga
Sept 19-20 – Venue TBA (Philadelphia, PA)
Sept 22 – Jazz, TX (San Antonio, TX)
Sept 23 – Monks (Austin, TX)
Sept 25-26 – The Jazz Corner (Hilton Head, SC)
Sept 28-29 – University of Missouri, Kansas City
Sept 30 – Crystal Bridges (Arkansas)
Oct 1 – Keystone Korner (Baltimore, MD)
Oct 22-25 – Dizzy’s with Carl Allen Tribute to Jazz Messengers
Oct 31 – Scullers (Boston, MA)
Nov 1 – William Paterson with Carl Allen Tribute to Jazz Messengers
Nov 6 - University of New Hampshire
Nov 12-15 – Cotton Club Tokyo, Japan
Nov 19-22 – JazzCultural (NYC)
Nov 30 – Kuumbwa (Santa Cruz, CA)

A 60-Second Harmony Lesson from Herbie Hancock - by Benny Green

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

The anecdote that pianist Benny Green relates below about his encounter with Herbie Hancock in Japan while both were touring the country with a select number of other Jazz pianists has taken place countless times both formally and informally in a variety of settings since time immemorial.

In a way, it’s another example of the adage: “Jazz can’t be taught but it can be learned.”

And, in my experience, the best way to learn Jazz is to learn it from those who have already demonstrated what you want to “say” on your instrument when you play Jazz.

How did they get to where you want to be in terms of technical proficiency and expressiveness? 

In the final analysis, it’s rarely about what gear you use, or what practice techniques you employ or how you conceptualize the music - all of which, of course, are important - but it’s usually about something simple and direct that breaks down barriers to entry. Accumulate enough of these lessons through studying with or listening to the masters and the results can be transformative in terms of the quality of your playing.

To wit -

“On too many occasions, I’ve reached out into an abyss of the unknown, hoping something "different” and beautiful will manifest, while lacking substantial grounding of any real semblance of sure footing from which to proceed.

Whether though divine intervention or merely law of averages, sometimes a happy accident might occur when one doesn’t really know what they’re doing, but as bassist Ray Brown cautioned when he felt that I tended to leave too much to kismet or chance - “If Oscar, Phineas, Ahmad, Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan come out to hear you, and there they are sitting in the front row - you'll want to have something prepared”.

During an afterparty for musicians who’d played the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival in 1988, in a small corridor adjoining the ballroom of our hotel and relatively out of view and earshot of other attendees, one of the pianists noticed a small upright piano.

Billy Childs, Mulgrew Miller, Renee Rosnes, me, and possibly Gonzalo Rubalcaba, (who was on the festival program that year although I’m not positive whether he made this particular hang), gathered around the piano with Herbie Hancock - all seeking an impromptu lesson, be it collectively or individually.

What wound up happening was that each individual in turn played a little for Herbie, who then provided each of us with some candid personal feedback.

What I recall of Mulgrew and Herbie’s exchange, was that Herbie encouraged Mulgrew to employ more “close fingering” and less of a raised-finger position in articulating his single-note right hand lines. Mulgrew expressed great appreciation and value for what Herbie had suggested, and I remember him later intimating that this exchange marked (paraphrasing) - a significant kind of turning and growth point for him.

I stood hovered over the other pianists’ shoulders as they played, halfway more caught-up in taking in the incredible good fortune and rarity of such a once-in-a-lifetime moment, than fully absorbing the informational gold that Herbie was imparting.

When it came my turn, I hadn’t given any real significant forethought to what I’d play. As embarrassed as I was about to become, the spontaneity of the situation, and the reality of the lack of preparation on my part, exposed my musical immaturity in no small way. I’ve since learned that a student’s musical shortcomings being fully exposed, is an ideal place from which a teacher can access and address the truth of a young musician’s stage of development. If one seeks to learn, they need not pretend that they know more than they do, that’s just a defensive stall from allowing the teacher to help.

Although my teacher and New York Father, Walter Bishop, Jr., was completely in my corner and believed in my potential all the way, the first time he heard me play outside of our lessons, comping for horns in a jam session when I was 19, he called me out of the club and onto the sidewalk. “What the hell were you doing up there? You sound like a striped tie on a plaid shirt - too busy. I see we’re going to need to work on your comping”. That’s some real love - Bish cared so much and was so invested in helping me, that he’d said “We”.

I began attempting to play “Someone To Watch Over Me” for Herbie. I guess I was trying to play what I’d hoped, on a wing and a prayer, would somehow turn out to be some sort of dramatic harmony.

Herbie stopped me after about 11 or 12 bars, and motioned for me to get up from the piano.

“If you want to play this song - or any song - you first need to learn how to do this -“

And with that, he proceeded to play the song in a way markedly unlike how I’d characterized Herbie Hancock’s playing to myself prior to that moment. He played what sounded like a very plain and authentic piano sheet music arrangement, with perfect counterpoint and voice distribution and of course, a gorgeous touch that made the upright piano sound like a grand. It was nothing fancy, no bells or whistles, it was just correct. He played “ Someone To Watch Over Me” - really straight, and good. To illustrate what I lacked, he served the melody rather than using the song as a vehicle to show off his wares.

This was undoubtedly an invaluable schooling in building one’s own house - whatever shapes and forms it may ultimately become, from solid foundations.”

Benny Green's Reflections on Monty Alexander: Love You Madly - Live at Bubba's

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“The thing about Monty's playing is that he has this kind of sparkle. It's definitely music to make you feel good. It's geared towards that. It's happy; happy and snappy. And I mean, those are corny adjectives, I know, but that's the feeling I get from Monty. I get the same feeling from listening to Wynton Kelly play. Joyful. Maybe that's a better word. His music is always very, very joyful. And I could hear Oscar Peterson's influence and also the influence of his roots, Jamaica. It's all there.”

- Kenny Barron, Jazz pianist 

THE INFINITE FACETS OF THE BLUES: AN APPRECIATION

By Benny Green

“In 1978 when I was fifteen, I heard Monty Alexander's album, Montreux Alexander-featuring John Clayton, Jr. and Jeff Hamilton-on the radio. Because the music was so dynamic and energetically exciting, I bought the record so that I could listen more often. At the time, I was just beginning to discover and explore the personal sounds and approaches of various Jazz pianists and I was quite struck by Monty's bright, warm sound as well as by the highly infectious emotional breadth of his music.

Monty appeared at Keystone Korner in San Francisco with the Milt Jackson quartet later that same year and I got to hear and watch him in person for the first time. This was really something to behold; Monty was so vitally alert and, from the piano, he was engaged in the emotional expression of the band as a whole. His legs looked so lean and muscular and I remember marveling at how his right foot was steadily tapping, even on the brightest tempos. Monty at the piano was like a human love machine and I remember how blown-away I felt to take in his total musicality and pianism.

Once, many years later, I was staying at the same hotel as Monty and we had breakfast together. Monty asked me almost the identical question that John Clayton would ask me a few years later: "If you could play with anyone in the world, who would that be?"

On each occasion I told my elders that if I could play with anyone, it would be Ray Brown.

"I'm very happy to hear you say that, young man. Mr. Brown is golden and all of the young folks today are interested in that kind of music."

I've told Monty numerous times about occasions when I've been alone with a woman and wanted some music to relax our breathing and change the vibe in the room. I've told him more than once that I've played his rendition of the 1970s pop ballad, "Feelings." "Did it work?" followed by a knowing smile has typically been Monty's response.

Once I was in an airport with Monty and for some reason I had the blues that day. I'd said with a tone of resignation, "Sometimes, I feel that music is the only thing I really have," to which Monty responded, "GREAT! But don't say 'this is all I have,' say, 'I HAVE this!!!!'"

When Ray Brown died, the entire Jazz community was quieted. It was like we were all in shock to accept that he'd graduated the realm of our getting to be around him as we'd been. I telephoned Monty. His Jamaican culture had not "taught" him to mourn, but rather to celebrate. Monty once again gave me a powerful attitude adjustment and after speaking with him I felt empowered and inspired by the glory of Ray's life, rather than broken-down by wallowing in sorrow.

The soul and humanity that Monty breathes into each song he plays is a wonder. His depth of expressive soul and his nature of musical storytelling place him in his own league of piano-trio royalty, right alongside his inspirational heroes, Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal.

I'm thrilled by the inclusion of my very favorite (although rarely performed] Monty Alexander original in this set, "Sweet Lady," which was also recorded by Oscar Peterson - the ultimate respect. This waltz carries that kind of magical rejuvenation from the heart, soul, imagination and hands of Monty Alexander that makes a spiritual transference from this beautiful man to the listener.

Monty's embrace of the infinite facets of the blues is profound. His Jamaican sunshine is transformationally healing. His name is synonymous with musical enchantment.”