Michigan clarinetist Dave Bennett is an authentic musical prodigy who brings to life the classic sound and music of Benny Goodman (1909-1986) with incredible technique, style, beauty of tone and naturalness.

Dave resides in Waterford, Michigan, (born May 18, 1984 in Pontiac, MI) and began his playing at age 10 on a clarinet given to him by his grandparents. He then taught himself how to play Goodman songs by ear, listening to a tape given to him by his grandfather. Dave had his first “feature appearance” playing Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen at his 5th Grade band concert. At age 12, Dave was invited to the bandstand of the famous Sweet Basil jazz club in New York to sit in with the trumpet great Doc Cheatham.

As an early teen, a tape of Dave’s playing sent to another hero, Pete Fountain, resulted in an unprompted telephone call to Dave by Fountain, encouraging this remarkable young talent that he was “on the right track.”

Starting at age 14 (and continuing still), Dave has traveled with The New Reformation Band and Wally’s Warehouse Waifs on the “trad jazz” festival circuit.  At 17, Bennett was selected as one of two high school students from a field of 600 to have the opportunity to perform as a special guest soloist with The Count Basie Orchestra.

Bennett premiered his Tribute to Benny Goodman septet in November 2003, at Windsor’s Capitol Theatre. The concert resulted in Dave’s first feature CD of Goodman material, released on PKO Records.

Dave Bennett has created written and “head” arrangements of many Goodman hits and swing jazz classics: Moonglow, I’ve Got Rhythm, Body and Soul, Slipped Disc, Sing Sing Sing, Airmail Special, Breakfast Feud, Poor Butterfly and many others. Bennett’s mature stage presence, knowledge of the dates and details of Goodman recordings, and his penchant for wire-rim glasses, spats and double-breasted suits, transport listeners back to the time and mood of Benny Goodman’s “swing era.”  In his Goodman Tribute, Dave demonstrates an uncanny ability: “copping” many of Goodman’s famous “riffs” and “lines” (very close to Benny’s classic recordings), balanced by substantial amounts of “free blowing” that still evokes the Goodman sound and style.

Bennett has made a great impression on several of Benny Goodman’s famous band members: vibraphonist Peter Appleyard, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and pianist Dick Hyman. They all strongly endorse Dave Bennett as “the closest ever” to Goodman’s sound and style. He has performed with them in the US, Canada and Europe, and they have recorded as “Special Guests” on Dave’s two recent CDs.

Since 2005, Dave Bennett has been touring for symphony “pops” shows with his Benny Goodman tribute. Performances contracted include the orchestras of San Antonio, Grand Rapids, Tacoma, Columbus, Nashville, Omaha, Rochester, Harrisburg, Baltimore, Orlando, Windsor and Kingston ON. After his success with The Detroit Symphony at Meadowbrook in 2006, the DSO brought Dave’s Goodman tribute for five shows at Orchestra Hall in May 2008. Bennett played to 10,000 fans over four days.

Dave was featured on two NPR network radio programs with The Jim Cullum Jazz Band on Jazz at Riverwalk broadcast in Dec. 2007. In April 2008, Dave made his European debut (at The Bern International Jazz Festival, Switzerland), chosen to play in a sextet with The Good Men, headlining with the aforementioned Pizzarelli and Appleyard.

Inspiring Dave for the occasional vocal, it should be noted that he is also a big fan of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and other rock and country greats. Dave is a very good “rockabilly” guitarist, playing lots of hot/rockin’ licks on his classic Gretsch electric guitar and recently performed on this instrument at Windsor’s Capitol Theatre. Dave also plays strong boogie-woogie piano in a style inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis. Dave has an added fan base when he performs for the young “swing dance” crowds at competitions around the country. He’s got lots of fans, being tall, good-looking and smooth on the mic.

At age 24, Dave’s playing now reflects a mature personal style that evokes a fortuitous and unique blending of the sounds inspired by his two idols: Benny Goodman and Pete Fountain. In the hands of this young phenomenon, the clarinet just might have its next chance at popularity.

Only time will tell where Dave Bennett’s remarkable and unique musical gifts will take him. Music lovers can celebrate Benny Goodman’s 100^th birthday in 2009 with Bennett’s newest release on Arbors Records: Dave Bennett Celebrates 100 Years of Benny.

Dave Bennett’s Band

Tad Weed (piano), of Ypsilanti, MI, spent eleven years touring the world as pianist for Paul Anka. Tad’s discography includes over a dozen CD’s, and he has performed with some of the great names in jazz including Anita O’Day, Mundell Lowe, Carmen McCrae, Charles Lloyd and Woody Herman. He has played concerts, clubs, television and radio around the world including Brazil, China, Holland, England, France, Germany and Finland. Some noteworthy appearances include The Concord Jazz Festival, The Boston Globe Jazz Festival at Symphony Hall, The Kool Jazz Festival and The Berlin Radio Festival. Tad is also in demand as an educator and has given clinics with Bill Walrous, Don Menza, George Shearing and Bud Shank throughout the USA. He is profiled in the final Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz co-authored by the dean of jazz critics, the late Leonard Feather.

Peter Siers (drums), of Ann Arbor, has been a touring member of the prominent Russell Malone Trio recording the album “Black Butterfly” on Columbia Records and has performed with Mose Allison, Frank Morgan, Mulgrew Miller, Lee Morgan, Vince Giordano and Franz Jackson, among many others. Pete has played major jazz festivals including the JVC, Newport, Sunfest, Playboy Festival, The North Sea Jazz Fest in Holland, and the Istanbul Festival in Turkey.  He performs frequently with Paul Keller and his drumming skills are wide ranging: able to play convincingly in modern or traditional styles, Latin (leading his own Los Gatos quintet) and in big band or small combos.

Jim Cox (bass), of Chicago, attended the University of Illinois in Urbana where he received a bachelor’s degree in double bass performance in 1979. Between 1979 and 1982, he toured internationally with jazz piano legend Earl “Fatha” Hines. After that, he settled in Chicago and has worked there full time as a free lance musician, playing music of all types, teaching and recording. He has worked regularly in the Midwest with Marian McPartland, Michael Feinstein and Judy Roberts and with the late Rosemary Clooney. Jim has also played with Phil Woods, Red Rodney, Ben Vereen, Cheri Lewis, and Harry Belafonte. He has performed at Holland’s North Sea Jazz Festival three times. He has taught at Illinois Benedictine College, North Central College, College of DuPage, and is currently adjunct faculty at DePaul University. Jim’s discography includes performances on over 50 CDs.

Hugh Leal (rhythm guitar) has been active in promoting, recording and playing jazz in Windsor and Detroit for thirty-five years. In the 1980’s and 90’s his Parkwood Records label documented some of the last of the surviving 1920s and 30s jazzmen, beginning with Doc Cheatham’s first feature album as a “singer/trumpeter” and named by The New York Times’ jazz critic John S. Wilson in his “top ten jazz albums of 1983.” To date, Leal has produced thirty albums including features of such artists as Marcus Belgrave, Art Hodes, Franz Jackson, Bob Wilber, Johnny O’Neal, and J.C. Heard. Leal ran his independent Windsor Jazz Series from 1977 to 2000, including five Windsor Jazz Festivals, 1992 to 1996. As a rhythm guitarist, Leal has recorded and toured the last six years to thirty-five US states for shows with Dave Bennett or also as a member of Detroit trumpeter Marcus Belgrave’s Tribute to Louis Armstrong Octet.

Rebecca Kilgore (vocals), of Portland Oregon, is one of America’s leading song stylists preserving and interpreting the vocal jazz of the 30′s and 40′s, an era she feels noteworthy for high quality songwriting. She performs regularly at jazz festivals and parties worldwide and is a frequent guest on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. She has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion and with Michael Feinstein at Carnegie Hall. Rebecca is a member of the unique and highly regarded jazz trio BED (Becky, Eddie Erickson, guitar and vocals, Dan Barrett, trombone). She has recorded over 30 CDs…with BED and with pianists Dave Frishberg, Butch Thompson and John Sheridan, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and others.