Benny Green (saxophonist)

Benny Green (9 December 1927, Leeds, Yorkshire – 22 June 1998) was a British jazz saxophonist who was also known for his radio shows and books.

His parents were David and Fanny Green. David was a tailor and saxophonist. They met while David was playing with a band in Leeds. They married in London in 1926 and initially lived with David's father, an immigrant Russian-Jewish tailor, at 1 Greenwell Street, London. Benny Green was born in Leeds because his mother wanted to be near her own family for the birth, but they soon returned to London, to a basement flat in Cleveland Street. Here he became a musician, writer and broadcaster.

He was educated at Clipstone Street Junior Mixed School and St Marylebone Grammar School.

As a saxophonist, he worked in the bands of Ralph Sharon (1952), Ronnie Scott (1952), Stan Kenton (February 1956) and Dizzy Reece (1957). In 1955 he began writing a weekly column for the New Musical Express. In 1958, he appeared in the UK pop charts as a member of Lord Rockingham's XI, the house band on ITV's rock 'n' roll show Oh Boy! The novelty jazz/rock release "Hoots Mon", complete with spoken interjections in a broad mock-Scots accent, reached number 1 for three weeks in November and December. Benny later joked that wearing dark glasses whilst playing (to counteract the strong studio lights) generated a fan letter addressed to "the blind sax-player".

His BBC Radio 2 Sunday afternoon record show ran for many years until his death. He had a huge knowledge of music he liked, by classic "Great American Songbook" composers like Kern and Cole Porter and jazz, and would introduce most records with details about the artist(s).

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