Ben Cassara is a Bronx-born jazz vocalist with roots that run deep in the rich musical culture of New York City. From an early age, Ben immersed in music, first in church and school choirs, and then performing in the vibrant piano bars of Greenwich Village.
A pivotal moment in Cassara's development was studying with iconic jazz vocalist Carol Fredette, who became a mentor and instrumental influence in shaping Cassara's vocal style and approach to storytelling through song. With a voice where "sensitivity and swing converge," Cassara transitioned to leading a jazz trio and has worked with esteemed musicians including Roni Ben-Hur, Pete McCann, Harry Allen, Tim Horner, Dean Johnson, Tedd Firth, Josh Richman, Marius van Den Brink and Nicki Adams. Their performances have graced legendary venues such as Birdland, Bar 55, Kitano Jazz and The Metropolitan Room in NY and Shanghai Jazz and Trumpets in NJ.
Ben started and curated a weekly jazz series at Pangea for over 3 years and co-curated the weekly Sunday Brunch at the North Square Hotel in Greenwich Village until it closed it's restaurant. His latest album on the Audiophile label has been praised for its "Effortless cool and expansive swinging storytelling," adding to a growing body of critically acclaimed work.
So pleased to be closing out the vocal jazz series at Shanghai Jazz (not to worry, it starts up again in September). Got my brothers in music with me for this one.....Nicki Adams on piano and Eddy Khaimovich on bass (we'll be doing some tunes that we will be recording in the studio this Fall). Hope to see you all there to enjoy the music, great food and terrific ambiance! We start at 6PM and go until 8:30. Hope to see you there....
Always happy to return to the Sunday Vocal Series at Shanghai Jazz. This night will feature Nicki Adams on piano and the terrific, inventive Ken Filiano on bass. Looking forward to making music for you all! Great food, great atmosphere so please join us. We start at 6PM and go until 8:30 with a short break in between. Hope to see you there!!
The Jazz Club at Aman New York, The Crown Building, 9 West 56th Street, New York, New York
Stoked to be making my debut at this very special jazz club in New York City. Will be doing two sets with my quartet: Nicki Adams on piano, Pete McCann on guitar, Eddy Khaimovich on bass and Evan Hyde on drums. Beautiful stage, great sound, super cocktails and one of the most elegant rooms in NYC! Hope you can join us!!
Looking forward to continuing celebrating my birthday this year at my favorite Jazz Venue in New Jersey! Joining me for the festivities will be Nicki Adams on piano and Dean Johnson on bass. Come celebrate with us as we go thru the Great American Songbook and more. Always great food, great atmosphere and always a swingin' time! Hope to see you there...
Decided to celebrate my b'day a few days later this year. Stoked to have this very special quartet with me, Nicki Adams on piano, Eddy Khaimovich on base and Evan. Hyde on drums. We'll be doing some new material with we will be going into the recording studio this year....it's gonna be a fun night and hope to see you there. Great food, great sound great stage and I. promise some equally great birthday cake!!
Always a pleasure to hit the stage at Shanghai Jazz. Will have my trio with me, Nicki Adams on piano and Eddy Khaimovich on bass. We have some new arrangements and new tunes to play for you! Always a fun night with great food and great atmosphere. Hope to see you there.
Dutch Baby Bakery, 813 West 187th. Street, Washington Heights, New York City
Excited to be at this new venue for me! Jazz WaHi and Dutch Baby Bakery are teaming up to present live jazz every Wednesday from 5 - 7 PM. There is a really excellent Happy Hour menu and they have really terrific baked goods. As it's Valentines week, Nicki and I will be doing tunes about all the aspects of love.....good, bad and indifferent! There's no cover and hope you can join us!
Happy to close out 2025 at my favorite jazz spot in New Jersey. I'll be doing a tribute to Mel Torme as well as some seasonal songs. Joining me on stage will be Josh Richman on piano and Eddy Khaimovich on bass with a few special guests! Hope to see you there....great food and great atmosphere!
So honored to be a part of this special holiday to Ronny Whyte and share the stage with such terrific musicians....Eric Comstock, Alex Leonard, Amy London, Boots Maleson Sue Matsuki & Gregory Toroian and Jane Scheckter. We'll be hitting Ronny's songbook as well as some of his holiday favorite! Be sure to save the date and make your reservations: 212-995-0900.
St. Peter's Church NYC, 619 Lexington Ave, New York, New York
So honored to return to the Jazz Verspers at Saint Peter's Church in New York City. Joining me on this very special event will be Nicki Adams on piano and Boots Maleson on bass. The event starts at 5:00 pm and ends at 6:00 pm. Saint Peter's is located at 619 Lexington Avenue at 53rd, Street in NYC and is open to the public. Hope you can join us.
I'm excited to celebrate the music of Mel Torme on this hundredth year of his birth. My quartet includes Nicki Adams on piano and arrangements, Eddy Khaimovich on bass and special guest vocalist, Tyler Bassett. We'll be exploring the singer/composers vast repertoire of the Great American Songbook and more. Reservations are strongly suggested: 212-995-0900. Doors open at 6:00pm and the music starts at 7:00. There is a $25 cash cover at the door and a $20 food/drink minimum. Come join as for a special, swinging evening of music!
St. Peter's Church NYC, 619 Lexington Ave, New York, New York
Honored to be a part of this very special honoring the 6 decades long career of jazz/cabaret vocalist, singer, pianist Ronny Whyte. The program will include vocal tributes by such artists (in no special order), Sandy Stewart, Stephanie Nakasian, Eric Comstock, Jane Schecter, Nancy Winston, Kathleen Landis, Amy London, Mary Foster Conklin, Erli Perez, Alex Leonard, Tyler Bassett, Hilary Cole, Daryl Sherman, Libby York, Rich Seigel, K.T. Sullivan, Steve Ross, Boots Maleson, Bill Mays, Dean Johnson, Ray Marchica, Russ Kassoff, Sean Harkness, Harry Allen and David Silliman. Please go to Evenbrite to reserve your ticket (no charge).
Always happy to return to Shanghai Jazz for a night of music, friends and great food! Joining me will be Pete McCann on guitar and Eddy Khaimovich on bass. Hope you can join us Reservations always suggested: 973-822-2899
Very pleased to be making my debut at this elegant speakeasy bar in Midtown Manhattan. Joining me on stage with be Nicki Adams on piano, Eddy Khaimovich on bass, Pete McCann on guitar and Evan Hyde on drums.
The Plaza at the Citicorp Building , 53 rd Street and Lexington Avenue, NY, NY
So pleased to be a part of this terrific summer jazz series tri-sponsored by Grand Central Partnership , BKP and Saint Peter's Church. Joining me will be Nicki Adams on keyboards, Eddy Khaimovich on bass and Dan Pugach on drums. The free, 1 hour concert starts at 12:30 and is outdoors, so be sure to get there early for a good seat. So looking forward to seeing you there!!
North Square Hotel, 103 Waverly Place, New York City, New York
Happy to continue my monthly residence at North Square. This month joining me are Nicki Adams on piano and Eddy Khaimovich on bass. We'll be swinging thru two sets of tunes and may have a surprise guest or two joining us. Always a great hang with terrific food and great atmosphere! Reservations strongly suggested: 212-254-1200. Hope to see you there!
Always happy to return to the Sunday night Vocal Series at Shanghai Jazz. I'll be bringing along with me guitarist Pete McCann and Eddy Khaimovich on bass. Will be bringing some new arrangements of the great American songbook as well as hip tunes from the 60's and 70's. Always a great venue with terrific food and a wonderful, warm atmosphere! Hope to see you there! Reservations recommended: 973-822-2899!
North Square Hotel, 103 Waverly Place, New York City, New York
So stoked to have Pete McCann and Yoshi Waki join me in June at the North Square Jazz Brunch. We will be playing some cool, funky tunes for you and it's gonna be fun! Always a great vibe and terrific food! Hope to see you there in June! Reservations are always suggested: 212-254-1200.
North Square Hotel, 103 Waverly Place, New York City, New York
Always happy to be at North Square for my monthly residency. This month, Nicki Adams will be back with the trio on keyboards (and some very hip new arrangements!) and Eddy Khaimovich on bass. Sure to be a fun afternoon and always a terrific menu and great atmosphere and No Cover! Hope to see you there!
North Square Hotel, 103 Waverly Place, New York City, New York
Come celebrate Easter and Spring with us at North Square for the Jazz Brunch! Joining me will be Marius Van Der Brink on keyboards and Eddy Khaimovich on bass. Great food, terrific atmosphere and live jazz without a cover! Hope to see you there!!!
Ben Cassara's latest release on Audiophile Records is an eclectic collection of standard songs culled from the Great American Songbook, gems by Dave Frishberg and Antonio Carlos Jobim and four originals by jazz pianist Ronny Whyte. The album features first class NY based jazz musicians: Josh Richman on piano who also arranged 10 of the tracks, Harry Allen on sax, Boots Maleson on bass and Tim Horner on drums.
In his second release, "What A WAY TO GO!", the way to go favored by singer Ben Cassara is via the path where sensitivity and swing converge. There's a modestly in the methodology so that lyrics are approached in a tender and genial way as they flatter the development of the melodic lines. Histrionics are anathema and while his timbre is soothing, it's a chill pill instead of a sleeping pill. He always sounds involved and intentional.
The baked-in reserve and pensiveness allow "I Just Found Out About Love" to project a kind of mature delight that seems appropriate, rather then unadulterated giddy ebullience. Liberties taken to relax "Secret Love" allow phrasing of the lyric to stress certain words differently and bring new shades to the romantic revelations. "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart" is slowed down from its typical tempo, exposing the full potential of sorrow in the words in this classic that usually has its deliciously sinuous Duke Ellington melody in the spotlight in a bolder way. Mr Cassara ends the despairing song with extra repeats of its phrase "I won't know sweet music" to emphasize the loss.
A few writers are notably favored in the 14-track set. There are two trips to the songbook of the king of Brazilian bossa nova, Antonio Carolo Jobim, sung gracefully in English versions ((Ray Gilbert's contribution to "Fotografia" and Susannah McCorkle's treatment of "Vivo Sonhando"). The sly work of Dave Friehberg is represented by three choices, and Ronny Whyte, who produced the recording, has four pieces he co-wrote included. He is also the arranger and pianist on those, providing his customary classy touch. Everything else has John Richman as pianist/arranger, gifting the vocalist with some simpatico and stimulating settings. Saxophonist Harry Allen enriches the moods on eight cuts. The two other players on the project, bassist Boots Maleson and drummer Tim Horner, are on all numbers. Musicians get special focus in strong intrumental breaks, with usually concise turn-taking.
Although Ben Cassara's "Nice Guy" persona keeps him at a laid-back, benevolent energy level that does not suit the accusatory tone of Frishbery's cautionary tale about "Wheelers and Dealers," he's good casting otherwise. He's the charming romantic considering the next step with a lover, whether it's encouraging one to "Linger Awhile" (Roger Schore's sophisticated and seductive lyric cozying up to the Whyte melody) or accepting the risks with a fatalistic shrug and smile ("What a Way to Go!'s" witty title song by June M. Tonkin). The next smile will be yours, I bet, if you spend some time with the cool and competent Cassara.
Rob Lester, Sound Advice Reviews
There are two elements of Ben Cassara's back story that clue us in on the effortless cool and expansive swinging, storytelling artistry the veteran NYC and New Jersey based vocalist (and curator of a long running jazz series at the East Village cabaret club Pangea) brings to a second album, so fun, romantic, diverse and exciting that its title needs an exclamation point - What a Way to Go!
Cassara's onetime vocal teacher, the late Manhattan jazz singer Carol Fredette, once told him: "Don't think of how you would sing it. How would you say it?" The other important element is that in 2014, Cassara debuted his Bobby Troup Project at Jazz at Kitano and has since performed it in New York and around the tri-state area. These dual influential aesthetics added authenticity and straightforward soulfulness to the artistic vision of a voice George Harris of Jazz Weekly said gave "hints of Barry Manilow and Bob Dorough - a mid-toned tenor that sounds comfortable in his skin."
Whether he's sharing his jaunty sense of swing or gentle more intimate grace on not often covered Great American Songbook gems like "I Just Found Out about Love" and "Secret Love," Cassara always makes us feel like we're engaged in a thoughtful conversation about life and love. Though he's more a brilliant interpreter than a songwriter himself, his passion for Troup-esque wittiness and clever wordplay comes across in the four crafty and poetic Frishburge tunes he re-imagines - from the tropical twist on "Zanzibar" to the brisk and whimsical "Let's Eat. Home."
Besides his casual and emotionally compelling vocal charm and the stellar arrangements by pianist, Josh Richman and the collection's producer Ronny Whyte, perhaps the most remarkable aspect of What a Way To Go! is Cassara's song selection, complementing the aforemenioned choices with two uber-romantic Jobim songs ("Living on Dreams {Vivo Sonhando}," "Fotografia") and four colorful and stylistically varied originals penned by Whyte - most notable the bluesy, smoky "The Party Upstairs" and the hip, playfully strutting "Throw Me A Word," both featuring the smoky sax of Harry Allen.
Jonathan Widran, The JW Vibe: Music that sticks to My Soul
BIO: Coming Soon
