Being Frank: musicians like you’ve never heard them before

What makes Songbook Ink special is that everything we make is inspired by midcentury artwork and lyrics from the Great American Songbook. That means the words and artwork you see on our merchandise is tied in some way to these memorable, classic tunes. And with each item comes with an exclusive music download, recorded just for us, on our signature tune tag.

Naturally, the musicians and artists we work with are very special to us. So every month, we interview one of them. We give them our Off Beat Questionnaire and ask them to answer as many of the questions they want. This month, we’ve interviewed trumpeter/vocalist Benny Benack.

Benny was the first male singer to win one of the top prizes in the prestigious Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition. He performs widely as a front man for Postmodern Jukebox, plays with Isaac Mizrahi, and tours internationally with his own band. And now, here’s Benny…..

What’s one of your go-to songs to sing in the shower or car? 

Call me crazy, but I always think ofFerris Bueller's Day Offand revert back to "Danke Schoen" by Wayne Newton whenever a shower sing-along comes up. A close second would be anything by the Backstreet Boys (my sister was a huge BSB fan growing up and it rubbed off on me too, I guess!)

What was your first gig? 

I grew up performing with my family - my earliest gigs were sitting in on the set breaks of my Dad's shows with my Mom accompanying me on piano singing show tunes, which was probably as early as eight or nine years old.

What other music do you listen to (if any)? 

I would say other forms of Black American Music that still are related to Jazz in some way. Growing up, I subscribed to one of those mail-in-subscriptions for a series of CD's that highlighted the top R&B songs of the charts for a given year from the 1950's all the way up through the 1970's. It made me appreciate artists like Lou Rawls and Earth Wind & Fire way more than I probably would've otherwise. I also enjoy classical music, and trumpet soloists like Håkan Hardenberger.

What’s the most ridiculous piece of advice you’ve ever gotten about your music career,and did you actually try it? 

I came very close to paying a big-name producer a lot of money to guide an album of mine. It was centered around the idea of re-doing Chet Baker's "Chet Baker Sings" album - except every song would employ a back-beat groove and purposely there would be no swing groove on the entire album. I almost talked myself into it because of the cachet of the producer, but in the end, I went with my gut and made a record that felt closer to my identity as a fan of swing.

Do you have superstition or ritual that you absolutely swear by before performing? 

I love finding a coffee shop between soundcheck and the show. I just go off for a walk by myself to sip something warm and have some quiet downtime. Once the show starts, I'm "ON" for the rest of the night.

What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you during a gig? Or what has been your strangest gig? 

I don't have any egregious horror stories of gigs gone wrong, but as far as something I found both funny and magical: one night I was hanging out at the local pub after a concert in Trondheim, Norway (that city has a great Jazz conservatory so many students were at the bar hanging and jamming). I got up to play on something, and with a vamp at the end of the song, it reminded me of the chorus to "Hey, Jude" so I started playing that on the trumpet. The next thing I know, every random drunk person in the bar started shouting out the lyrics with me in perfect unison, and someone videoed it and it went mini-viral on TikTok. Total spontaneous-but-awesome moment that I'll never forget. I love impromptu jam hangs like that all around the world where people are brought together through the music.

If you had to choose a completely different career path, what would you do? Something else where I could wear impeccable suits every day...A weatherman, maybe a hot-shot lawyer, or even an anchor on sports talk TV like ESPN! I could talk sports almost as much as I could talk about Jazz.

Do you have a favorite old movie or movie star? 

Any of the guys who could sing, act, and dance really are impressive to me. Gene Kelly comes to mind as an effortless talent, but also of course Cary Grant for his sense of style as well.

Ok call us crazy but we kind of think Taylor Swift is the new ambassador of the AmericanSongbook. Think about it – from the start, the Songbook was inspired by modern-day life and people loved the songs because the tunes spoke to their everyday lives, thoughts, and problems. That’s pretty much what Taylor is doing, right? So do you agree?? Or does this idea seem like blasphemy?? Or is there another artist you think fits the bill for this?

I can dig it! I actually arranged and recorded Taylor's song "Blank Space" with Samara Joy back in the day for an online series but the track never saw the light of day...maybe if we released it now it would take the world by storm! If we're going for a pop starlet, I might add Laufey to the list, as her music is much more within the Jazz universe, but she still writes and speaks to young people and has a massive (and growing!) following.

You can find Benny on our stemless wine glass “Road Trip series” singing “Moonlight in Vermont” and on our upcoming coffee tumbler “Jet Set series” Later this year, you catch him on our holiday advent calendar.

Wondering where you can find Benny Benack beyond Songbook Ink? The best place to start is HERE