Chicago drummer/ bandleader Jimmy Bennington celebrates 25 years in the music field. Bennington has played and recorded with Julian Priester, Perry Robinson, Daniel Carter, and Ed Schuller to name a few. For his first visit to the Bop Shop, Bennington brings with him longtime collaborators saxophonist Fred Jackson (late Fred Anderson protege' and member of the famed AACM), trumpeter Jerome Croswell (AACM), and veteran bassist Ed Schuller (Mal Waldron, Jim Pepper, Paul Motian). Jimmy Bennington is a recording artist for Cadence Jazz Records/ C.I.M.P Records.
Adopted at the age of two, Bennington was raised in Detroit, Michigan until 1979 when his family moved to Houston, Texas. He began music studies on clarinet while attending MacGregor Elementary School, playing the instrument for three years. Switching to drums at age fourteen, Bennington's education has come from private study, marching and concert bands throughout Middle and High School, work as a sideman, and as a band leader with his group Colour and Sound.
A largely self-taught musician, his early experiences include jazz and blues sessions in Texas that afforded him opportunities to learn from several veterans including Kinney Abair, Tex Allen, and G.T. Hogan. During this period, Billy Harper drummer Malcolm Pinson became a friend and mentor, eventually using Jimmy as a substitute when he was away. Bennington has also been privileged to learn from legendary John Coltrane drummer Elvin Jones. In addition to eight years of study with Jones beginning in 1995, Bennington served as band manager and drum tech, from 2000–2002, touring the U.S. and Europe.
Based in Chicago, after long residences in Texas (1990–1998) and the West Coast (1998–2006), Bennington performs in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and South America. He has played and recorded with a diverse array of artists from the Jazz and Improvised music communities, including clarinetist Perry Robinson, violinist Renee Baker (AACM, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble), pianists David Haney, Jim Baker, Steve Cohn, and Pete Drungle, trombonists Julian Priester, Michael Vlatkovich, and Jeb Bishop, saxophonists Daniel Carter, Bert Wilson, John Gross, and Fred Jackson (AACM), cornetist Josh Berman, trumpeter Demian Richardson, guitarists John Stowell, Bill Horist, and Ava Mendosa, bassists Ed Schuller, Brian Smith, and Sun Ra Arkestra electric bassist Rollo Radford.
Bennington has been a featured performer at the 30th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival, Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge, and the Tampon-Ramier Gallery in Paris.