Cutting loose on Billy Strayhorn’s godlike “Take the ‘A’ Train” and Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” the combo sound ready for chart action with the latter track also shining bright on his In Concert – Carnegie Hall set.įunk and dance floor pleasers dominate the next batch and George picks up his Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance on “Theme From Good King Bad” in 1977. One of the best is Bad Benson (1974) where he finds a guitar foil in the guise of Blue Note artist Phil Upchurch and teams up with brilliant drummer Steve Gadd. The CTI years provide many fine examples of the Benson method. Spectacular.ġ971’s Beyond the Blue Horizon introduced a heavier element of jazz fusion as Benson covered Miles Davis – “So What” – and provided some of his finest tunes to date in a quartet setting that was powered along by Jack DeJohnette and Ron Carter – an authentic and brilliant listening experience that is worthy of rediscovery. Featuring Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Bob James, Herbie Hancock and a host of jazz horn luminaries and string players this five-star release is a marvellous thing: check his version of “Here Comes the Sun”/”I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. Funk, soul and country permeated his recordings, all extremely well received, but it was his ingenious take on The Beatles, The Other Side of Abbey Road, that turned heads. His 1968 album, Shape of Things to Come, charted and signalled a partnership with producer Creed Taylor that endured until 1976. After a stint working with the producer John Hammond, George moved first to Verve and then A&M. After enjoying a partnership with the jazz organist and organ trio bandleader Jack McDuff, the two worked together on Benson’s debut, The New Boss Guitar of George Benson with the Brother Jack McDuff Quartet, where the main man’s love of Hank Garland shone through, as did the fact that five of the cuts were self-composed. As “Little Georgie” he was a mere ten years old when he made his debut recording, a single called “She Makes Me Mad” for RCA-Victor in New York. The man is, it’s safe to say, a legend.īorn and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania George Benson was seven years old when he played his first impromptu show in a corner drug store in 1950. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to go with those Grammy Awards, six of which are given in recognition of his instrumental prowess. Always a draw in concert, Benson retains a following that delight in his easy rest-stroke plucking and chestnut voice. Hence his most recent album is Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole where he starts off with a rare taped discovery of himself as Lil’ Georgie Benson, tackling “Mona Lisa”, then leads an all-star cast, including Wynton Marsalis and Sheila E., on the evergreen “Unforgettable.” In fact star names often figure as treasured guests when a George Benson disc is under discussion and the musical world is his oyster as he tackles anything everything from The Beatles’ Abbey Road to Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas & The Papas and his beloved Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. Stylistically George Benson has covered all his natural bases and often returns to his first loves.