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Benny Benack III

Aug 12, Saturday - 5pm
Hammer Theatre Stage

Emmy Award nominated Benny Benack III is not only a fiery trumpet player with a stirring command of the post-bop trumpet vernacular, but also a singer with a sly, mature, naturally expressive delivery. The 2022 DownBeat Critics Poll recently featured him as both a Rising Star Male Vocalist and Rising Star Trumpeter.

Benny has performed internationally as an MC for the YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox, and achieved his own viral success amassing millions of views for his crooning alongside the Grammy Award winning “8-Bit Big Band.” After his well-received 2017 debut One of a Kind, he released A Lot of Livin’ to Do in early 2020.

Alongside his global tours as a straight-ahead/contemporary bandleader,  Benny has appeared as a trumpet soloist alongside Josh Groban, Ben Folds, Ann Hampton Callaway and more. He’s been featured at Birdland, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Smalls Jazz Club, Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle and other leading New York venues, and has also been a special guest with Pittsburgh Symphony Pops Orchestra, Columbus Jazz Orchestra, Minsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Maya & Marty and The Tonight Show.

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 start as a professional musician. Benny returns to Pittsburgh often to perform, saluting his family forebears and the jazz heritage as a whole, while he stakes his bold, individual artistic claim.

Benny has performed internationally as an MC for the YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox, and achieved his own viral success amassing millions of views for his crooning alongside the Grammy Award winning “8-Bit Big Band.” After his well-received 2017 debut One of a Kind, he released A Lot of Livin’ to Do in early 2020.

Alongside his global tours as a straight-ahead/contemporary bandleader,  Benny has appeared as a trumpet soloist alongside Josh Groban, Ben Folds, Ann Hampton Callaway and more. He’s been featured at Birdland, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Smalls Jazz Club, Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle and other leading New York venues, and has also been a special guest with Pittsburgh Symphony Pops Orchestra, Columbus Jazz Orchestra, Minsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Maya & Marty and The Tonight Show.

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 start as a professional musician. Benny returns to Pittsburgh often to perform, saluting his family forebears and the jazz heritage as a whole, while he stakes his bold, individual artistic claim.