A hometown musician who can take you from Benny Goodman to rock & roll—and make the whole trip fun.
Metro Detroit has given the world an extraordinary collection of musicians. We tend to think first of Motown, rock, gospel, blues and jazz.
But right here in our own backyard is a musician who is difficult to put into any one of those categories.
Dave Bennett is a remarkable clarinetist. But calling him a clarinetist doesn’t begin to tell the story.
He is an entertainer.
Born in Pontiac and based in Waterford, Bennett fell in love with the clarinet and the music of Benny Goodman when he was still a boy. He was largely self-taught and began touring nationally at only 14.
That young Metro Detroit musician eventually made it all the way to Carnegie Hall, appearing as a featured soloist with The New York Pops in 2013. He has also appeared with dozens of orchestras in the United States and Canada, including our own Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
You Have to See Him Perform
Statistics and accomplishments are impressive, but they don’t really explain Dave Bennett.
You have to watch him.
One minute you may hear the unmistakable excitement of the Swing Era coming through his clarinet. A few minutes later Bennett may be at the piano, singing, playing electric guitar or taking the audience somewhere completely unexpected.
His musical influences range from Benny Goodman to Roy Orbison, Alice Cooper, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Chris Isaak. He moves comfortably among jazz, swing, blues, rockabilly, country, rock and gospel.
And somehow it works.
Perhaps that is because Bennett doesn’t simply reproduce old music. He loves it, understands it and then brings his own personality to it.
There is also something wonderfully Detroit about that.
This is a region where musical boundaries have never meant very much. Jazz, Motown, gospel, blues, garage rock and rock & roll have all grown alongside one another here.
Dave Bennett seems perfectly at home in that tradition.
From Waterford to the World
Bennett’s career has taken him far beyond Michigan.
He has performed at jazz festivals around the country, appeared on NPR’s Jazz at Riverwalk, made his European debut at Switzerland’s Bern Jazz Festival, and performed with musicians associated with Benny Goodman. In 2022, Dave and his band played to a sold-out audience at New York City’s Birdland Theater.
He is also a recording artist with Metro Detroit’s Mack Avenue Records. His album Blood Moon reached No. 24 on Billboard’s Jazz chart in 2018.
Yet Bennett continues to be very much a Metro Detroit musician.
The War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms reported that Bennett had performed there roughly 30 times over a decade. Those local appearances are a reminder that while audiences around the country get to enjoy him, Metro Detroit can still claim him as one of our own.
Keeping Great Music Alive
There is another reason I appreciate what Dave Bennett is doing.
He introduces music from another generation to people who might otherwise never hear it.
Benny Goodman and the great Swing Era musicians aren’t museum pieces when Dave Bennett performs their music. The music becomes alive again.
Young people can discover it.
Older people can remember it.
And everybody can enjoy it together.
That is a gift.
But Bennett has also refused to remain trapped in the past. He has continued writing, experimenting and moving into new musical territory—including original rock music and a gospel project.
That combination—respecting what came before while continuing to create something new—is one of the marks of a genuine artist.
A Metro Detroit Treasure
At LookUpDetroit, one of the things we want to do is simply look up and notice the remarkable people around us.
Dave Bennett deserves to be noticed.
He is an internationally accomplished musician who still calls Metro Detroit home.
He is a virtuoso clarinetist.
He is a multi-instrumentalist.
He is a singer.
He is a bandleader.
But perhaps the simplest description is still the best:
Dave Bennett is one terrific entertainer.
If you ever see his name on the schedule somewhere around Metro Detroit, go see him.
And you don’t have to wait for a concert to check him out.
If you have Alexa, just say:
“Alexa, play Dave Bennett.”
Then turn it up and discover one of Metro Detroit’s great musicians for yourself.
You may hear Benny Goodman.
You may hear rockabilly.
You may hear gospel, blues or rock & roll.
And there’s a pretty good chance you’ll leave—or listen—with a smile.
Rev. Richard Dalton
Creator of LookUpDetroit.com and JesusQuestion.com
Learn more: DaveBennett.com
