George Benson
Simply one of the greatest guitarists in jazz history, George Benson is an amazingly versatile musician whose adept skills find him crossing easily between straight-ahead jazz, smooth jazz, and contemporary R&B. Blessed with supreme taste, a beautiful, rounded guitar tone, terrific speed, a marvelous sense of logic in building solos, and, as always, an unquenchable urge to swing, Benson's inspirations may have been Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery, but his style is completely his own. Not only can he play lead brilliantly, he is also one of the best rhythm guitarists around, supportive to soloists and a dangerous swinger, particularly in a soul-jazz format; skills he first garnered attention for as a member of Brother Jack McDuff's band in the early '60s. Benson can also sing in a lush, soulful tenor with mannerisms similar to those of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway. In a sense, he is the guitar-playing equivalent of Nat King Cole, a fantastic instrumentalist whose smooth way with a pop vocal helped solidify his prowess in the marketplace. It is this combination of singing and guitar playing that has garnered him numerous accolades and chart success, including most notably his 1976 breakthrough Breezin', which topped the pop, R&B, and jazz charts and took home Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Record of the Year. Benson has remained a chart and awards season favorite, releasing more Top Ten jazz albums, including 1980's Grammy-winning Give Me the Night, 1993's Love Remembers, and 2006's Grammy-winning Givin' It Up with Al Jarreau. Along with his original studio albums, Benson has paid tribute to his idols, releasing 2013's Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole and 2019's Fats Domino- and Chuck Berry-inspired Walking to New Orleans. Born in 1943 in Pittsburgh, Benson actually started out professionally as a singer, performing in nightclubs at the age of eight, recording four sides for RCA's X label in 1954, and forming a rock band at 17 while using a guitar that his stepfather made for him. Exposure to records by Christian, Montgomery, and Charlie Parker got him interested in jazz, and by 1962, the teenage Benson was playing in Brother Jack McDuff's band. After forming his own group in 1965, Benson became another of talent scout John Hammond's major discoveries, recording two highly regarded albums of soul-jazz and hard bop for Columbia and turning up on several records by others, including Miles Davis' Miles in the Sky. He switched to Verve in 1967, and, shortly after the death of Montgomery in June 1968, producer Creed Taylor began recording him with larger ensembles on A&M (between 1968 and 1969) and big groups and all-star combos on CTI (from 1971 to 1976). While the A&M and CTI albums certainly earned their keep and made Benson a guitar star in the jazz world, he gained yet more commercial acclaim after signing with Warner Bros. in 1976. His first album for Warner Bros., Breezin', became a Top Ten hit on the strength of its sole vocal track, "This Masquerade," and this led to a string of hit albums in an R&B-flavored pop mode, culminating with the Quincy Jones-produced Give Me the Night. However, jazz remained at the core of his sound, as showcased on 1989's standards album Tenderly, as well as 1990's Big Boss Band with the Basie band, the latter of which featured his guitar more prominently. In 1993, he scored another number one contemporary jazz album with Love Remembers, and followed with several more chart-topping albums, including 1996's That's Right and 1998's Standing Together. The Latin-infused Absolute Benson arrived in 2000 debuting at number one on the Billboard Jazz chart, and was followed by 2004's number five-charting Irreplaceable. He then paired with vocalist Al Jarreau for 2006's Givin' It Up, which topped the contemporary jazz chart and took home Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. In 2009, Benson signed to Concord and released Songs and Stories for the label; he followed it with his first primarily instrumental album in 35 years, Guitar Man, in 2011. Two years later, Benson released Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, featuring arrangements by Nelson Riddle and Randy Waldman. In 2019, he returned with a second tribute album, Walking to New Orleans: Remembering Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. A concert album, Weekend in London, arrived in 2020.© Richard S. Ginell & Steve Leggett /TiVo Read more
Simply one of the greatest guitarists in jazz history, George Benson is an amazingly versatile musician whose adept skills find him crossing easily between straight-ahead jazz, smooth jazz, and contemporary R&B. Blessed with supreme taste, a beautiful, rounded guitar tone, terrific speed, a marvelous sense of logic in building solos, and, as always, an unquenchable urge to swing, Benson's inspirations may have been Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery, but his style is completely his own. Not only can he play lead brilliantly, he is also one of the best rhythm guitarists around, supportive to soloists and a dangerous swinger, particularly in a soul-jazz format; skills he first garnered attention for as a member of Brother Jack McDuff's band in the early '60s. Benson can also sing in a lush, soulful tenor with mannerisms similar to those of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway. In a sense, he is the guitar-playing equivalent of Nat King Cole, a fantastic instrumentalist whose smooth way with a pop vocal helped solidify his prowess in the marketplace. It is this combination of singing and guitar playing that has garnered him numerous accolades and chart success, including most notably his 1976 breakthrough Breezin', which topped the pop, R&B, and jazz charts and took home Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Record of the Year. Benson has remained a chart and awards season favorite, releasing more Top Ten jazz albums, including 1980's Grammy-winning Give Me the Night, 1993's Love Remembers, and 2006's Grammy-winning Givin' It Up with Al Jarreau. Along with his original studio albums, Benson has paid tribute to his idols, releasing 2013's Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole and 2019's Fats Domino- and Chuck Berry-inspired Walking to New Orleans.
Born in 1943 in Pittsburgh, Benson actually started out professionally as a singer, performing in nightclubs at the age of eight, recording four sides for RCA's X label in 1954, and forming a rock band at 17 while using a guitar that his stepfather made for him. Exposure to records by Christian, Montgomery, and Charlie Parker got him interested in jazz, and by 1962, the teenage Benson was playing in Brother Jack McDuff's band. After forming his own group in 1965, Benson became another of talent scout John Hammond's major discoveries, recording two highly regarded albums of soul-jazz and hard bop for Columbia and turning up on several records by others, including Miles Davis' Miles in the Sky. He switched to Verve in 1967, and, shortly after the death of Montgomery in June 1968, producer Creed Taylor began recording him with larger ensembles on A&M (between 1968 and 1969) and big groups and all-star combos on CTI (from 1971 to 1976).
While the A&M and CTI albums certainly earned their keep and made Benson a guitar star in the jazz world, he gained yet more commercial acclaim after signing with Warner Bros. in 1976. His first album for Warner Bros., Breezin', became a Top Ten hit on the strength of its sole vocal track, "This Masquerade," and this led to a string of hit albums in an R&B-flavored pop mode, culminating with the Quincy Jones-produced Give Me the Night. However, jazz remained at the core of his sound, as showcased on 1989's standards album Tenderly, as well as 1990's Big Boss Band with the Basie band, the latter of which featured his guitar more prominently. In 1993, he scored another number one contemporary jazz album with Love Remembers, and followed with several more chart-topping albums, including 1996's That's Right and 1998's Standing Together.
The Latin-infused Absolute Benson arrived in 2000 debuting at number one on the Billboard Jazz chart, and was followed by 2004's number five-charting Irreplaceable. He then paired with vocalist Al Jarreau for 2006's Givin' It Up, which topped the contemporary jazz chart and took home Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
In 2009, Benson signed to Concord and released Songs and Stories for the label; he followed it with his first primarily instrumental album in 35 years, Guitar Man, in 2011. Two years later, Benson released Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, featuring arrangements by Nelson Riddle and Randy Waldman. In 2019, he returned with a second tribute album, Walking to New Orleans: Remembering Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. A concert album, Weekend in London, arrived in 2020.
© Richard S. Ginell & Steve Leggett /TiVo
-
The Other Side Of Abbey Road
George Benson
Jazz - Released by A&M on Jun 1, 1970
Just three weeks after the U.S. release of the Beatles' swan song, Abbey Road, Creed Taylor ushered George Benson into the studio to begin a remarkabl ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Breezin'
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Rhino - Warner Records on May 29, 2001
The Qobuz Ideal DiscographyQobuz RéférenceHi-Res Audio24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Give Me the Night
George Benson
Pop - Released by Rhino - Warner Records on Jul 16, 1980
The Qobuz Ideal DiscographyQobuz RéférenceThis is the peak of George Benson's courtship of the mass market -- a superbly crafted and performed pop album with a large supporting cast -- and wou ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Collection
George Benson
Pop - Released by Rhino - Warner Records on Feb 27, 2015
The Ultimate Collection is quite different from the two-disc George Benson overviews that preceded it, including The George Benson Anthology. Like tha ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weekend in L.A. (Live)
George Benson
Pop - Released by 143 - Warner Records on Oct 2, 1977
The Qobuz Ideal DiscographyQobuz Référence16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giblet Gravy (Expanded Edition)
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Verve Reissues on Jan 1, 1968
No, you're not in Creed Taylor country yet, but you might as well be, for many of the ingredients that would garnish Benson's albums with Taylor are a ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
White Rabbit (CTI Records 40th Anniversary Edition)
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Masterworks Jazz on Nov 30, 1971
Qobuz RéférenceHi-Res AudioFor George Benson's second CTI project, producer Creed Taylor and arranger Don Sebesky successfully place the guitarist in a Spanish-flavored setting ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Absolute Benson
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Verve Reissues on May 23, 2000
George Benson is well embarked on the third phase of his career, and Absolute Benson, though unfortunately titled (it sounds like a compilation, but i ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
It's Uptown
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Columbia - Legacy on Jan 1, 1965
Qobuz RéférenceWhile George Benson's solid jazz reputation supposedly rests on his early John Hammond-produced Columbia albums, one listen to this disc will reveal t ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Afrodesia
George Benson
Funk - Released by LRC Ltd. - Groove Merchant Records on Jan 1, 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
George Benson & Jack McDuff [2-fer]
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Prestige on Oct 1, 1965
Qobuz RéférenceGeorge Benson's facile post-Wes Montgomery single-line and chord-accented style was well received in his salad days of the mid- to late '60s. Primaril ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beyond the Blue Horizon (CTI Records 40th Anniversary Edition)
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Masterworks Jazz on Jan 1, 1971
Having taken Benson along with him when he founded CTI, Creed Taylor merely leaves the guitarist alone with a small group on his first release. The pa ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In Flight
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Rhino - Warner Records on Nov 1, 1976
Qobuz Référence16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Shape Of Things To Come
George Benson
Jazz - Released by A&M Jazz on Oct 1, 1968
Qobuz RéférenceThis A&M/CTI debut album by George Benson signaled the arrival of a true star in the jazz scene. Creed Taylor signed Benson immediately after Wes Mont ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Breezin'
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Rhino - Warner Records on Jan 1, 1976
Qobuz Référence16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walking To New Orleans
George Benson
Blues - Released by Provogue on Apr 26, 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
I Got A Woman And Some Blues
George Benson
Jazz - Released by A&M Jazz on Jan 1, 1970
Qobuz RéférenceThis mysterious album was supposed to be A&M/CTI's last release but it lay fallow until 1984 when it came out on A&M's Audio Master series along with ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tell It Like It Is
George Benson
Jazz - Released by A&M Jazz on May 1, 1969
Trying to shake things up, producer Creed Taylor brought in arranger Marty Sheller from Mongo Santamaria's Afro-Cuban band, reduced the sizes of the s ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Givin' It Up
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Concord Records on Jan 1, 2006
Qobuz RéférenceGivin' It Up finds crossover jazz icons guitarist George Benson and vocalist Al Jarreau teaming up for a breezy, enjoyably melodic session that highli ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole (Deluxe Edition)
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Jun 4, 2013
George Benson's place as one of the greatest and most successful guitarists in the history of jazz is secure, but what's easy to forget sometimes is t ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Collaboration
George Benson
Jazz - Released by Warner Records on Jan 1, 1970
Qobuz Référence16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo