Review: Benny Benack III Honors Tony Bennett in THE GOOD LIFE at The Pocket

Benny Benack III is the epitome of hipster cool, a young singer with Dean Martin’s insouciance and a trumpeter possessing serious chops. At the new midtown venue The Pocket on August 2, Benack brought a trio of equally cool cats for two sets honoring the late Tony Bennett’s centennial.

Jazz is experiencing a true renaissance in Manhattan, just six years after James Altucher’s infamous “NYC is Dead Forever” viral editorial. The Pocket, on West 46th Street near Times Square, is one of several new jazz clubs to open this year in a three-month period. A short walk west on 46th Street is Spike Wilner’s Jazzcultural in the old Swing 46 space. Then there’s the rebirth of The Five Café as “Five Spot Jazz” in the East Village. The Pocket, created by the same team behind the defunct Jazz Standard, is more of an old-school New York supper club with jazz. It’s not cheap, but certainly a bargain next to Café Carlyle. The food is good, and it’s run by people who genuinely love jazz.

Benack was backed by three top musicians: the sensational pianist Emmet Cohen, bassist Joseph Ranieri, and drummer Joe Saylor, better known as The Jazz Cowboy. Saylor was the drummer for Stephen Colbert for the entire run of the show, and brought Benack in to play with the band for a week some years ago.

The set opened with a swinging “The Lady is a Tramp” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart) that quoted “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” (Charles Strouse/Lee Adams). Ranieri’s sizzling, extended bass solo included runs of 8th and 16th notes along with a snazzy call-and-response with Saylor.

Benack generously gives his sidemen plenty of room to shine. The ballad “The Good Life” (Sacha Distel/Jack Reardon) featured a deceptively simple solo by Cohen that morphed into an Erroll Garner-like piece. Benack’s vocal here was excellent, and his downward slide on the final “goodbye” displayed his ability to use his voice as an additional instrument.

“Old Devil Moon” (Burton Lane/Yip Harburg) began with a Latin twist. Ranieri again impressed with a virtuoso solo played with great passion and intensity. At times, he can be spotted softly scatting while he plays, and he brings the heart of the song into his solos. Cohen dropped clever quotes into his playing, with a bit of “Desafinado” here. Benack’s singing toward the finish captured some of the Tony Bennett energy, without falling into an impression.

The audience was in for a special treat when Benack brought up the first of two special guests, singer (and pianist) Maria Kim, for a duet on “Body and Soul” (Johnny Green/Edgar Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton). This was a song Tony Bennett recorded with the late Amy Winehouse. Kim began with just Cohen’s piano, and Benack came in for muted trumpet obligatos reminiscent of Harry “Sweets” Edison on Sinatra records.

Benack sang the verse of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (George Cory/Douglass Cross) entirely a capella before the band came in to play this song with a cool, Latinesque spin on things.

For a special finale, Benack brought up fellow singer/trumpeter Joe Gransden for a duet of “Fly Me to the Moon” (Bart Howard), trading verses sans mic as Bennett often did, even in arena concerts. The tall, handsome Gransden evokes Chet Baker in both his stance and his playing.

About the only quibble is that Benack chose several songs not particularly associated with Tony Bennett, though he acknowledged this at the end of the set and promised more for the next one. That said, this was an excellent set in a new venue that’s well worth repeated visits.

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