Origins — my Father introduced me to this music. his name is Bert Green, he was born in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, in 1928. he played the tenor saxophone with all his heart, and while he consistently showed me throughout my precious time with him a selfless admiration for any cat who could really play the horn, his musical hero and prime inspiration was unquestionably Lester Willis Young, ‘Prez’. recordings like the 1936 Count Basie small group session with ‘shoe shine boy’ and ‘lady be good’, his solos with the Basie orchestra in the late 1930’s into the early ’40’s, and most of all the dreamworld realm of Prez’s recordings with Billie Holiday, formed the core foundation for my Father as a tenor player. you could hear and feel it whenever he put that 1938 lacquer-barren selmer balanced-action tenor in his mouth. my Dad. pretty much my Father’s last words to me years later as he was dying in his bed at home, were ‘you’re a beautiful cat’. that’s what my Dad was; a beautiful cat. he seemed to understand musical expression profoundly as a listener, be it Bartok or Slim and Slam, and as a player he swung and played the blues. he made no secret that he expected authenticity from me as a Jazz musician, as his ‘son-of-the-righthand-man’, which he explained to me is what my name, Benjamin, means. he always wanted the very best for me. ‘in our household, music comes before medicine’, i clearly remember him telling me when i was around ten years old. he made sure i understood the importance of being able to read music. years later, in 1984 when i was 21 and on my first commercial recording session, i was thanking my Dad silently in my heart for what he’d shown me. i still thank him inside wherever i go to play or teach, he is right inside of me, more than ever before. when i kept repeatedly coming back to the garage behind our house at the age of 8 or 9, to sit quietly with my dad as he sculpted and listened with an ear-to-ear grin to his Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Ray Charles l.p.’s on his portable phonograph, he and i both realized that i was fast getting the ‘bug’. once you have it, nothing can quite get inside you like the feeling of real Jazz, meaning that the improvisation truly swings and has some authentic blues feeling to it, as well as taking chances and spontaneously executing them with virtuosity. there is infinitely more to Jazz than i will ever begin to ‘know’, but i will and DO put my life on the line that with the removal of these essential vertebrae, calling something ‘jazz’ does NOT make it so. one day, my dear Dad, with such a careful and caring tone which he maintained to me as a musician to the day he died, and honestly i still hear his voice inside me in each day of my life, told me ‘if you’re really interested in this music we’ve been listening to, you should understand that it’s a black people’s music. other people can play it and enjoy it; i do as you can see, but you need to know where it’s coming from’. Betty Carter is in all truthfulness, whether i remember it in each day or not, effectively my musical mother. Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson and Freddie Hubbard all blessed my life by inviting me to participate in their music, included me on their recordings and live shows, and Art, Ray and Freddie even recorded my original tunes on their records. i have something to share today because i got to play with the hardest swinging bassist and drummer in the history of Jazz; i got to feel this! i have always wanted to belong and be included and be a part of The Music, black-american music, Jazz. anyone who has ever gotten to know me or been in my home, knows exactly what i’m about. i love classic Blue Note quintet records, and the sound and feeling of a trumpet-saxophone front line like Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley or Kenny Dorham and Jackie McLean, is what i love, and it inspires the music i write. i am a Jazz Messenger, my life is dedicated to Jazz.

The American dream came true for Catalina Popescu in October of 1986 when she and her husband Bob created a supper club devoted to serving an experience of superb eats and the shared magic of live performance. That grand experience began at the door where every night her mother Maria would greet each guest as family and share in their love of music. Housed in Hollywood and decked out in a timeless charm, the club offers a cozy ambience under sparkling stage lights garnished with its signature concoction — Jazz. The first artist to grace the stage was the masterful flutist and saxophonist Buddy Collette, and ever since then, over the past 36 years, the Catalina Jazz Club has hosted the most illustrious legends of all time — from the powerful puffers of Dizzy Gillespie to the electrified fingers of McCoy Tyner, the bubbly belt of Dee Dee Bridgewater and Lynda Carter, the flirtatious saxophone of Joshua Redman, the slick strumming of Kenny Burrell, the insane drum clinic of Steve Gadd, the romance of Steve Tyrell, and the masterclass of Mike Stern. For Catalina, Jazz is our way of life. It breathes pain. It knows love. It dreams hope. It bleeds courage. Whether we’re showcasing Broadway, Soul, R&B, or stand-up comedy, the lesson learned from all the greats who have serenaded our spirits is how to connect to one another. And that’s why the Catalina Jazz Club will always have a table ready for you. The Catalina Jazz Club has been honored by A.S.M.A.C., California Jazz Foundation, Los Angeles Jazz Society, and a City of Los Angeles Certificate of Appreciation on their 25th Anniversary, which was awarded by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the LA City Council which included then City Council member and current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.