Relative to many of the jazz artists to emerge in the 1980s and 90s, Green was more a product of the “street academies” of his elders than the conservatories and jazz schools of his contemporaries. Yet he does not regard this as a disadvantage. “I certainly feel no regret for having aspired to play with and learn from jazz masters, and for having been devoted and having worked diligently as a young man in the only ways I intuitively knew to attempt to prepare myself to be worthy of my heroes from an early age, only gratitude... I consider jazz to be a feeling, and something of a spiritual nature, so in a sense, I believe that it is more deeply ‘felt’ than ‘conceptualized.’ So I feel that learning on the bandstand, in the arena of making an offering of sorts to audiences, is surely the ultimate way to grow as a player.”

And recognizing Green’s growth as a performer, in 1993, the late Oscar Peterson chose Benny as the first recipient of the City of Toronto's Glen Gould International Protégé Prize in Music. The honor from Peterson, one of Benny’s key sources of inspiration, was a hallmark of Green’s early career. “Oscar Peterson is one of a kind,” says Benny, “a human miracle of sorts, and an artist and man of rarest integrity. Like countless self-respecting jazz pianists, I've received the exuberant spirit of his music as an abundant representation of essentially core aspects of the greatness of jazz and, for that matter, of the piano--in fact, of music.” 

Shortly after receiving the Protégé Prize, Green replaced Gene Harris in Ray Brown's Trio, working with the veteran bassist until 1997, when he resumed his freelance career leading his own trios and performing solo piano. He considers his time with Brown and Blakey as most significant. “I feel that Art Blakey and Ray Brown touched me most profoundly through their intense and highly consistent drive as players, as well in their individual manners of leading a band. Art challenged us by being the most dynamic and hardest swinging drummer to walk the planet. Ray embodied the history, sophistication, knowledge and inherent experience of mastery, and showed us a living example of an enthusiasm for this music which never subsided. I was blessed to be able to feel the vibration of two of the greatest time players in history, in the most vivid way, in being blessed to play with them.”  

After a series of recordings for Criss Cross and Blue Note in the 1990s, Green moved to Telarc in 2000, although he had appeared with mentor Oscar Peterson on the 1997 Telarc release, Oscar and Benny. His most recent CDs are two duo sets with guitarist Russell Malone, with whom he has often toured in the past few years: Jazz at the Bistro (2003), dedicated to Ray Brown, and Blue Bird (2004). He recently recorded a live set with guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, due for release late in 2009. Another direction for Green in the past decade has been jazz education, presenting workshops, master classes, and serving as a guest instructor at Julliard. Perhaps stimulated by his own experience learning from the jazz masters, Benny is particularly interested in “passing it on” to the next generation. “It's a great honor to be called upon to teach,” he notes. “It seems that overnight, a musician transitions from being the youngest person on the bandstand to finding oneself in a position of helping others. I basically try to be of encouragement to other musicians... I seek to listen closely and talk with the musicians, and get a sense of who they are as people and what they're each striving for as individual instrumentalists, composers and arrangers, and I simply try to be a good mirror. It's so much easier to observe what's going on with another person than to self-evaluate!” 

Citing his key influences as Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Hank Jones, Ahmad Jamal, Phineas Newborn, Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson, Green notes that “the musicians who have inspired me in the past and continue to do so more than ever, as well as musicians who I am constantly discovering today, illuminate and affirm our shared universal experiences uniquely as individuals, through sound and rhythm.” Further, Benny sums up his love of the music as a mantra for life in general: “This music reminds me to be honest and somehow encourages me to strive to be a kind person and to endeavor to bring happiness. The music teaches me that to channel something of a positive nature as a player, I must live in a healthy way in all tiers of life. This is an ongoing process of discovery for me, and I always try to remember what a great privilege it is to be paid to do something that I love, and that such a thing can potentially bring happiness to others.”    

The Jazz Showcases gig this week will be Green’s first experience with both Cameron and Gray as a trio. “I don't currently have an active working trio,” he said recently. “Lewis Nash introduced me to Clayton Cameron...27 years ago, while Lewis and I were working with Betty Carter and Clayton was in the midst of his long tenure with Tony Bennett. Last year I had the great pleasure of finally playing with him for the first time...It was a revelation to play with Clayton during a week in New York with Kenny Burrell, and to joyfully discover that he has time like an ‘old man.’ I was most thankful to learn that Larry Gray, my first choice of Chicago bassists, was available and amenable to playing with us for this week. Larry is absolutely a world-class musician, vastly experienced and truly versatile...easy to get along with, and as is the case with all of the greatest musicians, his unspoken gestures of humanity allow playing together to feel so easy, so natural.” 

Those gestures of humanity will be evident on the stage at the Jazz Showcase this week when the Benny Green Trio displays what Green describes as “a feeling in jazz, a spirit and a sound conveying human characteristics,” when the goal of performance is “…to just swing and have fun, and share those feelings with the audience.” 

The Jazz Showcase is located at 806 S. Plymouth Court in historic Dearborn Station in downtown Chicago; sets each night at 8 and 10 pm (plus 4 pm matinee on Sunday); www.jazzsshowcase.com.