Sammy Benskin

Samuel "Sammy" Benskin (* 27. September 1922 in the Bronx , New York City ; † 26. August 1992 in Teaneck , New Jersey ) was an American jazz - and rhythm and blues - pianist .

Life

Born in the Bronx, Benskin began working as a professional pianist around 1940 when he accompanied singer and guitarist Bardu Ali . In the 1940s he also worked with jazz musicians such as Buck Clayton , Stuff Smith , Benny Morton , John Hardee , Don Redman and Lucky Thompson . In 1945 he was a member of Freddie Greens Kansas City Seven and accompanied Billie Holiday in the orchestra of Bob Haggart (Don't Explain / You Better Go Now) .

In the early 1950s he led his own piano trio and also appeared as a soloist and accompanist for vocalists such as Roy Hamilton and Al Hibbler . In 1954 he was a member of the formation The Three Flames. In the late 1950s he worked with Dinah Washington ; In 1959 he recorded the instrumental title The Clouds , which Julius Dixon had written and produced with a band called The Spacemen . Panama Francis , Haywood Henry and Babe Clark also contributed to the title . It appeared on Dixson's "Alton" label. The title hit # 1 on the Billboard R&B charts and # 41 on the pop charts. The Clouds was the first number one to be released by an African-American record label, before Motown's # 1 hit that same year.

From the 1960s onwards, Benskin mainly worked as an accompanist for singers and as an arranger and producer. In 1982 he recorded an album for the Black & Blue label in Paris, These Foolish Songs .

collection

• The Benny Morton and Jimmy Hamilton Blue Note Swingtets (1945) & Sammy Benskin Trio . Mosaic , 1986 - 1 LP with Billy Taylor , Specs Powell

literature

• Bielefeld catalog 1988 & 2002
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .