George Benson
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George Benson Biography
George Benson is simply one of the greatest guitarists in jazz
history, but he is also an amazingly versatile musician, and that
frustrates to no end critics who would paint him into a narrow bop box.
He can play in just about any style -- from swing to bop to R&B to
pop -- with supreme taste, a beautiful rounded tone, terrific speed, a
marvelous sense of logic in building solos, and, always, an
unquenchable urge to swing. His inspirations may have been Charlie
Christian and Wes Montgomery -- and he can do dead-on impressions of
both -- 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. Yet Benson can also sing in a lush soulful tenor with
mannerisms similar to those of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway, and it
is his voice that has proved to be more marketable to the public than
his guitar. Benson is the guitar-playing equivalent of Nat King Cole --
a fantastic pianist whose smooth way with a pop vocal eventually
eclipsed his instrumental prowess in the marketplace -- but unlike
Cole, Benson has been granted enough time after his fling with the pop
charts to reaffirm his jazz guitar credentials, which he still does at
his concerts.
Benson actually started out professionally as a singer, performing in
nightclubs at eight, recording four sides for RCA's X label in 1954,
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 teenaged 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 Benson with larger ensembles on A&M
(1968-1969) and big groups and all-star combos on CTI (1971-1976).
While the A&M and CTI albums certainly earned their keep and made
Benson a guitar star in the jazz world, the mass market didn't catch on
until he began to emphasize vocals 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. As the
'80s wore on, though, Benson's albums became riddled with commercial
formulas and inferior material, with his guitar almost entirely
relegated to the background. Perhaps aware of the futility of chasing
the charts (after all, This Masquerade was a lucky accident), Benson
reversed his field late in the '80s to record a fine album of
standards, Tenderly, and another with the Basie band, his guitar now
featured more prominently. His pop-flavored work also improved
noticeably in the '90s. Benson retains the ability to spring surprises
on his fans and critics, like his dazzlingly idiomatic TV appearance
and subsequent record date with Benny Goodman in 1975 in honor of John
Hammond, and his awesome command of the moment at several Playboy Jazz
Festivals in the 1980s. His latter-day recordings include the 1998
effort Standing Together, 2000's Absolute Benson, 2001's All Blues, and
2004's Irreplaceable. Three songs from 2006's Givin' It Up, recorded
with Al Jarreau, were nominated for Grammy Awards in separate
categories. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
Written by Richard S. Ginell