Benny Powell Commercial

[hearsay]

I saw a strange commercial on CNN that was sponsored by Johnson&Johnson and was for the association for excellence in nursing or something. Anyway, the ad had Benny Powell in a hospital bed listening with headphones and a nurse taking care of him and lovingly looking around the room at various pictures of his life, playing trombone and such.
I would've thought that they usually use actors for this sort of thing, and it was strange to me that they never mentioned his name (or played any of his music). Does anyone know what the deal is with this? Has Powell been sick recently? How did he come to be in this commercial?

[Valerie]

Originally Posted by hearsay

I saw a strange commercial on CNN that was sponsored by Johnson&Johnson and was for the association for excellence in nursing or something. Anyway, the ad had Benny Powell in a hospital bed listening with headphones and a nurse taking care of him and lovingly looking around the room at various pictures of his life, playing trombone and such.
I would've thought that they usually use actors for this sort of thing, and it was strange to me that they never mentioned his name (or played any of his music). Does anyone know what the deal is with this? Has Powell been sick recently? How did he come to be in this commercial?

i'm going to look for this. well, benny certainly has had his share of time in a hospital bed but, as far as i've heard, he's been ok in recent years. hope that's true and that he's just going to be the recipient of some risidual checks!

[BlueMiles]

I believe Powell has had health problems for quite some time, but as far as I know he continutes to be active--particularly in Randy Weston's African Rhythms group. In fact, I saw this group live in April, with Powell doing his part respectably (though clearly he had less energy than the other musicians).

[John P. Cooper]

Maybe he was sidelining?

[chuckyd4]

I just saw him in July/August in Kigali, Rwanda, playing with Weston's group. Assume he's been in pretty good health if he made that trip, and he certainly seemed in fine form when I talked to him.

[Lois Gilbert]

Wow - that's very odd about the commercial... But Benny is great as I saw him 2 weeks ago in the Tribute to Frank Foster. He also teaches at the New School. But next time, I see him which I anticipate will be soon, I will ask about the commercial.

[makpjazz57]

That's good news regarding Benny Powell. I remember seeing Benny around town (NYC) when I still lived in the vicinity and he was still quite active back in the 80's and 90's despite health issues.

Marla