DAVE BENNETT BRINGS ROCK TO THE SYMPHONY
To Dave Bennett, it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
The Michigan native is a busy guy, anchoring no less than four different combos: the eclectic Dave Bennett Quartet; rockabilly-focused Memphis Speed Kings; a Benny Goodman tribute act; and Rockin’ the ’50s, a hip-swiveling salute to rock ’n’ roll’s early years.
This burst of musical activity makes more sense considering Bennett plays clarinet, guitar, piano and “a little bit of drums, but not too much,” he smiles. He sings, too. About three years ago, he came up with “Whole Lotta Shakin’: Swing to Rock,” the symphonic program he’ll bring to Jones Hall this weekend with the Houston Symphony Big Band. (The strings have these concerts off.)
First came the clarinet, which the self-taught Bennett began playing in the fifth grade. (It remains his primary instrument, he says.) Bewitched by Elvis, Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Stray Cats’ Brian Setzer, he learned guitar a year or so after that. From there, bringing piano into the fold was more or less a matter of convenience.
“When I was a teenager, there was always a piano at school, so I could sound out some of Jerry Lee (Lewis’) things, like ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’,’ but it wasn’t until I was in my early 20s that I really tried to concentrate on that style, too,” Bennett says. “It was kind of a gradual thing, but I just heard different types of music that I loved and really wanted to do my best to try to perform those styles.”
Although he’s generations removed from the likes of Gene Vincent or Buddy Holly, Bennett, now 37, immediately connected with the flashy style and unalloyed attitude of ’50s music. (The cars weren’t bad, either, he adds.)
“It was, emotionally, very raw,” he says. “You could tell these guys were creating something new, but I don’t think they knew they were. They were just doing something that came very naturally.
“I think the emotion, the soul, of it really just hit me because it was real,” Bennett adds. “I think any music that is real connects with people, no matter what the genre is.”
In “Swing to Rock,” Bennett and principal Pops conductor Steven Reineke will test that theory by leading the orchestra through a program that includes big-band standards “In the Mood” and “Stompin’ at the Savoy” as well as Jelly Roll Morton’s “King Porter Stomp,” Count Basie’s “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Several selections were either written or popularized by Benny Goodman; Bennett’s only other appearance with the symphony was on a 2016 Goodman tribute. Despite this program’s broad stylistic range, the clarinetist believes audiences will have little difficulty finding common threads.
“Jerry Lee, when he was growing up, he listened to boogiewoogie and New Orleans jazz,” Bennett says. “I think every era influences the next one, so I think there’s elements that are similar in all this stuff: the blues, rhythm and blues, Dixieland. It’s all kind of in there — to my ear, anyway.”
Bennett will also be doing a few original numbers, taken from his 2017 album “Blood Moon” and the one he’s currently working on, which he says swaps out the jazz influences of previous albums for rock and country. He calls “Lonesome Highway,” one of the new numbers, “kind of a Roy Orbison/ Chris Isaak-influenced song.”
With symphonic tributes to popular musicians on the rise, Bennett could be well-positioned to branch out beyond Benny Goodman and the Sun Records stable. But if the world isn’t quite ready for “The Music of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble” yet, the late Texas guitar legend has already seeped into Bennett’s sound. Moody “In Step” instrumental “Riviera Paradise” is a favorite, he notes.
“The way I play clarinet was actually, believe it or not, greatly influenced by the way he played guitar and the way he played the blues,” says Bennett. “I really incorporated that into the way I play the horn, so I don’t know. Time will tell, but I’ve always wanted to cover something of his.”