Pittsburgh native, trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack III, is bringing his manifold talents to City of Asylum on February 19 for a special concert to celebrate the release of his new album A Lot of Livin’ to Do.
A Lot of Livin’ to Do features the multi-GRAMMY-winning Christian McBride on bass and demonstrates not only Benack’s stirring command of the post-bop trumpet vernacular but also a sly, naturally expressive vocal delivery in the post-Sinatra mold. The record has liner notes by famed fashion designer and performer Isaac Mizrahi, who is also a frequent musical employer of Benack.
The lead track “Social Call,” featuring another rising talent Veronica Swift, has already amassed over 87k streams on Spotify and 40k views on Youtube. You can watch the video here: Social Call. Overall his pre-release streams of the four singles total around 250K streams on all services (Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Google Music, etc) not including YouTube plays.
Benack is likely best known as the current frontman, trumpeter and singer for Postmodern Jukebox, the collective known for old-school covers of modern pop. He hails from Pittsburgh and comes from a musical family. His grandfather, Benny Benack, Sr. (1921-86), recorded the Pittsburgh Pirates theme song “Beat ’Em Bucs” and toured with Tommy Dorsey and Raymond Scott, among others. His father, Benny Benack Jr., is also a stalwart member of the Pittsburgh jazz scene.