Benny Green: Renovation!

SUNNYSIDE RECORDS (RELEASED SEPTEMBER 18, 2026))

Between 1989 and 1995, Concord Records issued 42 volumes of solo piano recitals recorded at Maybeck Recital Hall in Berkeley, California. Although Benny Green grew up in the area and was active on the Bay Area jazz scene, he never had the opportunity to record for the series. With Renovation!, his new Sunnyside release, Green finally gets his Maybeck moment. With all but two tracks recorded live at Dizzy’s Club in New York City, Renovation! is Green’s first live solo recording, arriving after nearly 40 years as a recording artist and more than 20 albums under his own name. Like the classic Maybeck sessions, its 13 tracks include standards and originals, providing Green the opportunity to display the breadth of his virtuosity. Original compositions such as “For Duke Pearson,” “Constitutional” and “Sophy’s Choice” reveal Green’s soulful side, enriched by touches of stride and block chords. “Cedar World” and “Wiggin’,” meanwhile, pay tribute to two pianists who appeared in the Maybeck series: Cedar Walton, featured on Volume 25, and Gerald Wiggins, who appeared on Volume 8. Green’s graceful, deeply felt treatment of “The Night We Called It a Day” recalls the elegance of Hank Jones (Volume 16), while the light touch and off-kilter stride of “Two Sleepy People” evoke Jessica Williams (Volume 21). On Bobby Timmon’s “This Here” and Randy Weston’s “Hi-Fly,” Green demonstrates his command of the left hand, generating strong, shifting bass lines beneath fleet single-note passages in the right. Two more originals, “My Girl Bill” and “Ernie’s Uncle,” have the character of standards, and Green approaches them with the same combination of swing and sophistication associated with Barry Harris (Volume 12) and Kenny Barron (Volume 10). Like the Maybeck sessions, Green’s piano is captured with exceptional clarity and warmth, creating an unusually intimate sense of presence. Renovation! distills lessons absorbed during his years with Betty Carter, Art Blakey, Ray Brown and other jazz masters into a solo performance that is rooted in the tradition while unmistakably his own. For listeners who treasure the Maybeck recordings,
Renovation! belongs in the same conversation. It is a welcome addition to modern solo piano recitals.

BOTTOM LINE: Benny Green is no stranger to solo performances. In addition to his two studio solo albums, Green’s Blues (2001) and Solo (2022), he regularly performed solo pieces during his years with Art Blakey, including what may be the only solo track in the Jazz Messengers’ discography. Inspired by the tunes, audience and the many jazz greats who influenced and mentored him, Renovation! is not only Green’s first live solo recording, it’s one of his best recordings to date!