Solo

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Drawing inspiration from his piano heroes, Benny Green displays his immense taste and soulful restraint on his second solo piano album, 2023's aptly titled Solo. One of the most virtuosic and technically adept players of his generation, Green emerged to acclaim in the '80s playing a blend of athletic bebop and swinging stride piano that underscored his deep grasp of the work of players like Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Bud Powell. He put these influences on display on 2001's Green's Blues, his first album of solo piano. Though his technical skill has never waned, Green has matured in other, more nuanced ways as a player. His style has inched ever more toward a measured, deeply soulful place. His is an understated aesthetic that prizes melody and serving the song over a showy, note-heavy approach. It's that low-key, yet still impressive style he brings to Solo, an album that finds him paying tribute to the pianists who have inspired him. Early in his career, Green garnered attention as one of the last pianists in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Here, he invokes this legacy with his bluesy, gospel-infused take on "The Soulful Mr. Timmons," pianist and '80s Messenger James Williams' homage to one of the original Messenger pianists Bobby Timmons. It's a wry yet heartfelt start to the album and one which sets the tone for Green's warm celebration of the piano lineage, of which he is a part. Throughout, he often evokes the style of the specific pianist he's interpreting, from the hard bop block chords of Timmons on "This Here" to the walking left-hand bassline on Tommy Flanagan's "Minor Mishap." Elsewhere, Green offers warm, harmonically resonant takes on songs written by the pianists themselves, including Cedar Walton's "The Maestro," Horace Silver's "Lonely Woman," and Barry Harris' "Rouge." These are tasty, superbly attenuated performances by Green, whose respect for each player is evident in each note.
© Matt Collar /TiVo