Benny's Crib

Album review

Acclaimed for his deep grasp of the acoustic jazz tradition, pianist Benny Green expands his approach exploring the warm sound of the Rhodes electric piano on 2020's Benny's Crib. Green's move from piano to Rhodes is not without precedent in jazz and certainly evokes the work of legendary players like Bill Evans, Cedar Walton, Tommy Flanagan, and Herbie Hancock, who each adopted the Rhodes at some point in their careers. The album follows his superb 2018 effort Then and Now, and features nearly the same lineup, with bassist David Wong, flutist Anne Drummond, conga player Josh Jones, and vocalist Veronica Swift returning. The sole change is drummer Aaron Kimmel, who ably replaces the estimable Kenny Washington. The pianist's bandmates aren't the only similarity to his previous work, as both the title track and "Harold Land" are Green originals carried over from past albums. In fact, "Harold Land," an urbane midtempo swinger dedicated to the late tenor saxophonist, was recorded by Drummond and Green for the flute player's 2013 album Revolving. Similarly, "Benny's Crib" is reworked from Then and Now, with Swift offering a buoyant reading of the bop-informed melody. Equally compelling are cuts like Green's languid take on Walter Bishop, Jr.'s "Coral Keys," his breezy Latin take on Kenny Barron's "Seascape," and his ebulliently hard-swinging version of Cedar Walton's "Something in Common." We also get a handful of intimate and lushly textured solo keyboard performances by Green, including a sweetly lulling version of Dexter Gordon's "Tivoli," the poignantly romantic "Did We Try," and a soulful take on his own "My Girl Bill." Green has always balanced harmonic sophistication with deeply swinging grooves, and his move to the Rhodes keyboard on Benny's Crib only reinforces these traits.
© Matt Collar /TiVo