April 17, 2024
- The Jazz Studio Orchestra (JSO) with special guest trumpeter/vocalist Benny Benack III
- Time: 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
- Location: COFAC Recital Hall
- Description: This performance is free and open for general seating and will be live-streamed on the School of Music's YouTube channel and Facebook page.
PROGRAM to be selected from the following:
You Go To My Head - J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie/arr. Bill Holman
Off the Cuff - Jim McNeely
Send in the Clowns - Stephen Sondheim/arr. Dave Barduhn
Social Call - Gigi Gryce and Jon Hendricks/addl. lyrics by Benny Benack III/arr. Diego Rivera
A Night in Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie/arr. Michael Philip Mossman
Won't You Be My Neighbor - Fred Rogers/arr. Thomas Wenglinski
Third Time's the Charm - Benny Benack III/arr. Mike Sailors
Old London Towne - Benny Benack III/arr. Steven Feifke
Georgia - Hoagy Carmichael/arr. Tommy Newsom
By age 33, Emmy-nominated Trumpeter and Vocalist Benny Benack III has already become a leading voice in Jazz for his generation, headlining clubs and festivals around the world on the heels of his latest critically acclaimed album “Third Time’s the Charm” which ascended to #2 on the JazzWeek International Radio Charts in 2023. He is the rare talent who is just as formidable as a fiery trumpeter ranging from Freddie Hubbard to Louis Armstrong and everyone in between, while as a singer he delivers sly, mature, naturally expressive post-Sinatra vocal stylings.
His sophomore album “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” (2020) featured the likes of bass luminary Christian McBride, achieving viral online fame w/his vocalese rendition of "Social Call" ft. Veronica Swift that's been transcribed and covered by singers around the world. He has crooned his way to millions of more listeners alongside groups such as the Grammy-winning “8-Bit Big Band” and YouTube sensation “Postmodern Jukebox”.
His double-threat credentials were first apparent when he was a finalist in the 2014 Thelonius Monk Competition on trumpet, and then won Third Place in the 2021 Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition. His resume for both was recently bolstered in Downbeat Magazine’s Critics Poll for 2023, where he appeared in two categories: The #2 Rising Star Male Vocalist and #15 Rising Star Trumpet.
His global recognition has been bolstered by the recent advent of live-streaming concerts, both through his weekly residency at Smalls Jazz Club, as well as frequent appearances at fellow young lion Emmet Cohen’s “Emmet’s Place” online series. He has emerged from the pandemic as one of the most in-demand touring artists in the Jazz world, with a never-ending intercontinental schedule that reflects his indefatigable love for the music, with his smile and panache on full-display wherever it takes him next.
- Related Web Site: WIU JAZZ
- Contact Information:
Joanie Herbert
Phone: 309-298-1843
Email: JE-Herbert@wiu.edu - Source: School of Music
