On Stage — Benny Benack III

On Monday, May 2, at 7:00 p.m., On Stage presents a performance from 2019 by trumpeter, vocalist Benny Benack III. Third, in a generational line of Pittsburgh jazz notables, Benny follows in the footsteps of his trumpeter/bandleader grandfather, Benny Benack, Sr. (1921-86), and his father Benny Benack, Jr., a saxophonist/clarinetist who gave the young Benny his first professional experience. Benny, Sr. hailed from a Pittsburgh lineage that also produced Roy Eldridge, Earl Hines, Art Blakey, Billy Strayhorn and so many more. He toured with Tommy Dorsey and Raymond Scott, among others.  Benny III returns to Pittsburgh often to perform, saluting his family forebears and the jazz heritage, nonetheless staking his bold and highly individual artistic claim.

Benny was a 2014 finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition, and winner of the 2011 Carmine Caruso International Trumpet Competition.  He is highly sought after as a clinician and educator, leading workshops for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People program, as well as the New York Youth Symphony’s Education department.

Tune in to On Stage, Monday, May 2 at 7:00 p.m., featuring Benny Benack III on trumpet and vocals, Patrick McDevitt on bass, Peter Stoltzman on piano, and Alejandro Castaño on drums. On KUVO JAZZ, The Oasis in the City!

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