Benny Benack
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Ben E. "Benny" Benack I (August 31, 1921 – July 23, 1986) was at the forefront of the Pittsburgh jazz scene in the 1960s and 1970s. A talented trumpet player, Benack was made famous by his song "Beat'em Bucs" and was a staple at
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and
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games. The Benny Benack Orchestra played the styles of traditional jazz, dixieland, and
swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...
. He was known as the "King of Dixieland" in Pittsburgh for many years.


Biography

Benack was born to Italian immigrant parents in 1921 and grew up in Clairton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. His father, Charlie, was a self-taught photographer who started out walking from one mill town to another in the Monongahela River valley, his equipment on a donkey, making family portraits and class photographs. Uninterested in following in the photography business, young Benny began playing trumpet at age five, and practiced for six or seven hours a day throughout his childhood. He was educated in the fine arts department of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
, where he was friends with jazz composer Sammy Nestico. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh. He played at army bases in Florida and India during World War II, was director of a group of young musicians known as the Dodge Kids, and toured the country with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the Raymond Scott Orchestra. During the late 1950s and '60s, he was an innovative bandleader at Clairton High School, introducing jazz, swing, and high-stepping routines to the marching band's pregame and halftime performances. Benack died in 1986 of lung cancer.


Personal life

He and his wife Gretchen had three children: Benny "Peek" Benack II, Flip, and Suzie, each of whom had two children of their own. Peek and Flip both live near Pittsburgh with their families, while Suzie moved to upstate New York. Peek continues the family musical tradition as Benny Benack Jr., playing trumpet, clarinet, and saxophone. Peek's son,
Benny Benack III Ben Edward Benack III, also known as Benny Benack III, (born November 23, 1990) is an American jazz trumpeter, vocalist and composer. Early life and education Benny Benack III was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was introduced to the tru ...
, is following in his grandfather's footsteps as a jazz trumpeter and vocalist, touring the world as an international soloist with such artists as Postmodern Jukebox, Aaron Johnson, Christian McBride, Josh Groban, Isaac Mizrahi, Joey DeFrancesco, and many others. He was featured on the NBC series '' Maya & Marty'' as part of the in-house band. Flip currently owns and operates Benack Sound Productions, an audio/visual production company near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.www.bennybenackjazz.com
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benack, Benny Dixieland trumpeters Swing trumpeters Big band bandleaders Jazz musicians from Pittsburgh People from Clairton, Pennsylvania Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni 1986 deaths 1921 births 20th-century American musicians American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians American expatriates in India