With an eye and ear on what was happening on the soul charts -- James Brown in particular -- Benson made a decided swerve toward R&B on this release. Indeed the JB's Pee Wee...
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A few decades ago, when the release of a George Benson album was an event for either jazz guitar or R&B vocal enthusiasts, his projects indeed lived up to the album title he...
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This is a more satisfactory summary of George Benson's late-'60s recordings than the early CD era's Silver Collection because it includes a pair of the later A&M recordings...
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George Benson may have changed labels with That's Right, but he didn't change his approach. Like his other '90s albums, That's Right is jazz-inflected quiet-storm soul. It's...
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Warner Bros.' second Benson compilation, unlike Collection, only draws from the label's own catalog, so by definition, it is a less representative sampler. And even then, it...
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Taken from Columbia's multi-volume jazz primer, this is not bad for a single-company compilation. The selections split down the middle between Benson's early 1965-66...
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Anyone who despaired about the total lack of instrumentals on Warner's unrepresentative The Best of George Benson will be overjoyed by this sequel, which contains nothing...
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Having achieved monstrous success as both a pop vocalist and electric guitarist, George Benson spends most of his albums switching back and forth between crooning over easy...
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The success of Weekend in L.A. no doubt prompted producer Tommy LiPuma and Warner Bros. to give Benson another double album (now on one CD) - and this, like its three...
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George Benson is well embarked on the third phase of his career, and Absolute Benson, though unfortunately titled (it sounds like a compilation, but is actually an album of...
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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 already present in this...
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George Benson certainly is a good soul vocalist, fervently turning every phrase as if he meant every lovelorn syllable. The bright spots on 20/20 are the tense high-tech...
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Preceding Breezin', his crossover smash for Warner in 19786, Bad Benson shows the guitarist still hanging on to his Wes Montgomery roots in places while stretching his...
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Released in 1989, this anthology is a generous cross-section of tracks from Benson's CTI period, where he consolidated his jazz/soul guitar credentials just before striking...
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The Best covers the years 1969-1970, the years A&M was affiliated with Creed Taylor's CTI. Often with Taylor productions, an individual player's style was muted due to the...
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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 payoff is a superb jazz...
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Another sampler spotlighting his bluesy, funky material, this time taken from his brief period on Verve, when he recorded with The Sweet Inspirations and also played in a...
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All of a sudden, George Benson became a pop superstar with this album, thanks to its least representative track. Most of Breezin' is a softer-focused variation of Benson's...
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The Breezin'/Give Me the Night two-fer from Warner Brothers features a pair of George Benson LPs. Originally issued in 1976 and 1980, respectively, these 16 jazz-pop tracks...
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This is the peak of Benson's courtship of the mass market -- a superbly crafted and performed pop album with a large supporting cast -- and wouldn't you know that Quincy...
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The R&B elements get stronger, the sound and mix are more attuned to the dancefloor, yet this brings out the best in George Benson's funky side. Thanks in part to the more...
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This 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 a bunch of A&M/CTI...
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Sony Music Special Products' The Essence of George Benson is a collection of ten highlights from his recordings for CTI/Columbia. It's far from being a definitive overview...
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Interesting recording which finds Benson and flutist Hubert Laws showing their chops on two extended jams, fleshed out with a fine guitar exploration of "Take Five" and a...
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In the wake of "This Masquerade," and the balance of power now shifts for the first time toward Benson's suddenly marketable voice; four of the six tracks are vocals. By...
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In search of more platinum, Benson turns to one time Atlantic Records ace producer Arif Mardin for support. Yet Mardin's best days seemed to be behind him, as this mostly...
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George Benson displays virtuosity on guitar and vocals on four powerful traditional jazz tracks. The CD kicks off with a compelling version of "Love for Sale," a straight...
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The second of Benson's John Hammond-produced albums is far and away the superior of the pair, mixing down-to-basics, straight-ahead jazz with soul-drenched grooving....
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Upon Wes Montgomery's sudden death June 15, 1968, Creed Taylor signed Benson up and immediately thrust him onto the master's pedestal -- or so the line has it. While this...
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Most of the tracks from Benson's two Verve albums, Giblet Gravy and Goodies, were deposited here in one of the label's earliest CDs. As such, it exists to plug a small hole...
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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 servings (no track is...
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In a self-conscious return to jazz after several faceless soul-jazz albums, Benson teamed up with such jazz heavies as pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Ron Carter and drummers...
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Apparently Benson got the message. Giving up the fruitless search for decent contemporary material, he switched gears and recorded an album of old standards with top-grade...
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Just three weeks after the U.S. release of the Beatles' swan song Abbey Road, Creed Taylor ushered Benson into the studio to begin a remarkably successful pop/jazz...
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George Benson was only 21 when, on May 1, 1964, he recorded his first album as a leader, The New Boss Guitar of George Benson. At that point, the guitarist had yet to become...
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For Benson's second CTI project, producer Creed Taylor and arranger Don Sebesky successfully place the guitarist in a Spanish-flavored setting full of flamenco flourishes,...
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In what Benson claimed was a risk, he works with six different production teams, but if diversity was the goal, the result is just the same homogenized, synth/electronic...
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Recording live at Los Angeles' Roxy club -- then a showcase for many of the hottest acts in pop -- was just the tonic that George Benson and his Breezin' band needed on this...
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Decent, more jazz-oriented '86 album Benson made with Warner Bros. under the provisions of a new pact that would give him more creative freedom. Although still not as...
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This little-known CTI recording matches guitarist George Benson and Joe Farrell, a multi-reed player who mostly sticks to flute. Joined by a large rhythm section and...
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This project had its genesis back in 1983 with a Benson promise to Count Basie that he would record an album in his style, a promise partially fulfilled the following year...
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Benson rebels against the machine and comes out with an all-instrumental album, his first in 11 years and also his first full teaming with onetime protege, acoustic...
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George Benson's two-disc Anthology from Rhino ultimately manages to encapsulate Benson's career. These 32 tracks not only highlight the obligatory vocal pop hits "Turn Your...
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George Benson was at his peak as a jazz guitarist in 1972, when the music that comprises Classic World's Live: Early Years was recorded. This particular disc contains...
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In mid-2001 Columbia/Legacy reissued this 1966 classic, along with It's Uptown, recorded only several months earlier. The Cookbook is widely considered Benson's essential...
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Jazz Moods: Hot is a budget release in the Sony Jazz Moods series that showcases ten tunes from Benson's residency at Columbia and CTI circa 1966 to 1976. It's an...
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Basically, this "greatest hits of all" is simply that: the highest-charting tracks in George Benson's long career -- highest-charting pop and adult contemporary tracks, that...
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Preceding Breezin', his crossover smash for Warner in 19786, Bad Benson shows the guitarist still hanging on to his Wes Montgomery roots in places while stretching his...
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