J. Walter Hawkes

Bennie Green - Records and recommendations

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You don’t need to be a “jazz head” to love this stuff.  This could be just the kind of music for folks who say they don’t like jazz. In a surprising Venn diagram overlap, I’m pretty sure that a lot of jazz enthusiasts will be totally down as well. Bennie’s records are swinging, joyful, accessible, and soulful.  This is the kind of stuff you’ll love playing around the house, in the car, or when you have folks over for a hang.  It’s music that exudes an easy good time.  These are records that can unobtrusive to create a vibe and yet rewarding to the ears that zone in.

While I’ll be the first to admit this is completely coming from my own place of conjecture, everything that I’ve ever read, or heard from folks that knew Bennie say he was a nice, easy going, good human. I feel like I can hear that in his playing. I’ll stand by that conjuncture.

There are a lot of Bennie records out there to choose from. Here are some of the ones I’ve listened to the most, and they are a great place to begin adding more Bennie in your record collection and your life. While my favorites change with the direction of the wind, the first three on this list are always vying for #1, with #4 being a new (ahem, in the last decade) favorite. First I’ll just list the names w/links for those of you in a hurry. Below that, I’ll explain my choices and in some cases give info on choices on vinyl.

  1. Hornful Of Soul Apple – Spotify (The first version I picked up: Catwalk which is dirt cheap on Discogs. You can get the original original too for a bit more.). I’ve listened to this record from top to bottom so many times that at any moment, I can mentally conjure up Bennie’s opening solo high A that begins the record, playing George Gershwin’s “Summertime.” My entire system of relative pitch is based on being able to imagine this note from this record in my head. I love Skip Hall’s organ work. I feel like the success of “Night Train” may have caused folks to sleep on tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest. He’s an absolute swinging monster, full of fire, and possessing a gigantic sound. I especially love his solo on “Indiana”, which is a study in the differences between Bennie’s type-B approach to Forrest’s type-A. The LP was originally released (I believe) with the title “Catwalk”, and that title tune is also a standout… so vibey and the bridge kinda whacks me in the face. (In a good way?) I love this whole record.
  2. Ike Quebec – Congo Lament – Apple – Spotify – available digitally as “Easy Living” under Ike Quebec’s name (with some extra tracks) Quebec’s tenor playing is sublime. Congo Lament is a wonderful tune (written by Bennie) and has vibe for days. Also I love this entire thing. Ma Rainey’s “See See Rider,” is an insanely soulful standout. If you are the vinyl type, it is still reasonably priced in used record stores. Check discogs
  3. Blows His Horn Apple – Spotify Charlie Rouse, of course known for his work with Thelonius Monk, is on tenor and he is astoundingly swinging and big toned. The record consists of a lot of blues or blues-adjacent tunes. I find it to be a wonderful record bubbling with so much joy and soul — a vehicle for good-time virtuosity. These first three records, I know by heart from beginning to end… and can sing along with most all the solos by every instrumentalist. This may have been the first Bennie recording I ever heard. It might have been Catwalk, I’m not quite sure. Either way, thank you to Mr. Michael Janusek for introducing me this stuff 40 years ago. Seriously.
  4. With Strings – Apple – Spotify – This is just beautiful. It is Bennie’s buttery tone at the height of his powers. “Serenade To Love” is technically impressive… a beautiful melody in the upper register soaring over the string section. He finishes it off with a long, gorgeous “double” high F, going into a range of the horn that I’m not sure I’ve heard him play in any other setting. His beautiful sound and his straight-to-the-heart(string) vocal-like approach to melody can mask the fact that it is an extremely physical, even athletic command of the horn. It is a virtuosity that doesn’t shout at you “I AM A VIRTUOSO.” Also of note: “There’s A Small Hotel” was a minor radio hit, and a major boon to me haha. I love that song. All four tunes are great. I wish he would have had the opportunity to do more than four songs (I bet he did too.) I have the original 10″ record. It isn’t expensive to get. The digital record pairs it with a JJ Johnson/Kai Winding record which is wonderful, but I don’t think the two records are a good pairing. I didn’t pay as much attention to the Bennie Green with Strings at first when I was younger. (I mean, c’mon… JJ Johnson was also on that record haha.) “Serenade To Love” came up one day out of context when I was listening to my library on shuffle decades later, and it blew my mind. I went back and checked out just Bennie Green With Strings on its own and my perspective changed immediately. Drummer Osie Johnson wrote the string arrangements. While I’ve certainly heard slicker records with strings, it is kind of crazy that Bennie had a “with strings” record in the vein of Bird and Clifford Brown. Thank the heavens for it.
  5. Walkin’ and Talkin’ – Apple – Spotify – Eddy Williams on tenor. Pianist Gildo Mahones (someone I wish I would have been more aware of and searched out when he was still on the planet) contributes the first two tunes (they’re really great) and the whole record is a solid good time. I also really like the bouncy version of “All I Do Is Dream Of You.”
  6. Glidin’ Along – Apple – Spotify – I believe this was his last record as a leader. While some of the performances can be a little rough around the edges, the material is more ambitious than the name of the record would suggest. Johnny Griffin is on tenor and is, as per usual, freaking fire. I’ve always enjoyed the tune “Milkshake.” Bennie’s tone on Stardust is nothing short of something that clogs arteries. Bless.