# Benny Green at Yoshi's, November 30, 2021

[Yoshi's](https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/benny-green/detail) presents [Benny Green](http://bennygreenmusic.com/)  
[Yoshi's](http://www.yoshis.com/oakland/)  
[Jack London Square, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland, CA 94607-3506 USA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Jack+London+Square,+510+Embarcadero+West,+Oakland,+CA+94607-3506+USA&hl=en)  
8:00 PM, Tuesday, November 30, 2021

[[2021-11-26-2|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2021|Up to the 2021 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2021#November_events|Up to the 2021 event list!]] ☸ [[:2021:2021-12:2021-12-02|On to the next event!]] 

## One Set

[7:59 PM] {lights down, announcements, Benny out; brief greeting}

01. [8:01 PM] _the Soulful Mr. Timmons_ (James Williams)
02. [8:06 PM] _No Smoking_ (Horace Silver)
03. [8:10 PM] _You're My Everything_ (Harry Warren)
04. [8:16 PM] _Pyramid_ (Horace Silver)
05. [8:22 PM] _Place St. Henri_ (Oscar Peterson)
06. [8:27 PM] ? (unnamed Johnny Mandel tune)  
[8:33 PM] {Benny talks about writing the next tune for Christian McBride}
07. [8:34 PM] _Captain Hook_ (Benny Green)
08. [8:40 PM] _Minor Mishap_ (Tommy Flanagan)
09. [8:44 PM] ? (unidentified tune \#2)  
[8:49 PM] {Benny talks about Benny Carter's advice to him: "Just play the effen piano"}
10. [8:52 PM] _When Lights Are Low_ (Benny Carter)
11. [8:58 PM] _Naturally_ (Benny Green)
12. [9:02 PM] _Say You're Mine_ (Duke Pearson)
13. [9:07 PM] ? (unidentified tune \#3: a classic, maybe _Here's That Rainy Day_?)  
[9:10 PM] {set ends}  
   
**Encore**
14. [9:12 PM] ? (unidentified tune \#4)  
[9:14 PM] {show ends: Benny waves goodbye, then darts offstage}


## Performers

* [Benny Green](http://bennygreenmusic.com/): piano.

## Notes

I bought tickets for this show a few weeks ago after Yoshi's sent me email offering a discount -- turns out that it was just enough to offset the ebrite ordering fees, but anything's better than nothing, right?

We headed down to Jack London Square and got there pretty early. Made for easy parking, and the weather was nice, so waiting outside in line wasn't much of an ordeal.

I was really surprised when they let us inside to discover that the entire front half of the house was tagged: I guess they sold a lot of dinner seats! No matter! We got a pair at the center high-top table: great for watching and listening. The house filled up pretty well by show time. It wasn't quite sold out, but darn good for a Tuesday night. Maybe it's the hometown boy makes good thing? I dunno.

I thought the show was really good. I really enjoyed the tunes he played that had a gospel or blues tinge to them: _Captain Hook_, for example. Benny plays with a lot of speed and power, and that flashy stuff probably gets him more attention, but I was glad that he saw fit to include a few slower tunes too, like _Say You're Mine_-- all the better to give the ear a respite from the hot stuff.

He paused after every other tune to catch his breath and say a word or two, although most of the time his banter was simply an introduction of the next tune or back announcement of the previous one (and I wish he'd named the four tunes noted above too). I appreciate that effort! It's not quite as interesting as hearing stories, but he was way more conscientious about it than most performers, thanks Benny!

On a more sober note, I was more than a little unhappy to see that Yoshi's staff did absolutely nothing to check vax status or encourage/enforce mask-wearing: my guess is that at least 50% of the audience was unmasked the entire time. What with folks packed in tightly, I personally felt squeamish just raising my mask to drink my beer: makes me think twice about visiting them again while the pandemic is still sputtering on.

## Photos

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

{{gallery>:2021:2021-11?20211130-*.jpg}}

{{:wip.png?nolink}}  **Whoa!**  This section is incomplete for now, sorry! {{:wip.png?nolink}}

{{tag>music Benny_Green Yoshi's }} 

[[2021-11-26-2|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2021|Up to the 2021 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2021#November_events|Up to the 2021 event list!]] ☸ [[:2021:2021-12:2021-12-02|On to the next event!]]