Customer Reviews

Absolute Benson

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Its been years since I've bought a George Benson album. Having been a fan of his guitar virtuosity from the days of White Rabbit and Good King Bad, I was dismayed by his seemingly permanent move to the world of disco and soft jazz/soul. The teaser for Absolute Benson promised a taste of the old days once again so I was lured into buying the album. Well, it took a few listens to appreciate what George was doing here. It is not like the days of long ago, but neither is Absolute Benson like the disco pop atrocities of the late 70s-80s. That veteran producer Tommy LiPuma is here is a plus, so is the presence of keyboard master Joe Sample. As it turns out, Absolute Benson is an enjoyable mixture of jazz and blues with just enough guitar heroics to evoke the days of old, but also enough understatement to let you know that this is a new day. The album is smooth enough to play at the office, yet generates enough musical energy to make it perfect background for a party. My favorite cuts are the last two, the bluesy Come Back Baby and the George Benson-Joe Sample composition Medicine Man. If you are an old time fan who has been ambivalent about the musical path Benson has taken, its time to shake it off because he proves here that he's still cookin'.

....well, almost. This isn't a return to his be-bop roots and the great music he made in the late Sixties. However, he does demonstrate his technical excellence on Absolute Benson with some great soloing. It's almost all instrumental, but the vocals are pretty impressive too - the Donny Hathaway cover - The Ghetto - is a good example of this. Benson also covers material by Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Marc Antoine. Other features are the prevalent influence of Joe Sample and the involvement of Masters At Work (the best guys in the business). This will probably be popular with radio, and confirm George Benson as the doyen of smooth jazz musicians.

Its a Sunday, MY day of rest and this particluar Sunday following a very long hard working Saturday where I was working as a festival organizer. I had Jazz playing from one of the Jazz music audio channels off Dish Network Satalite. And I heard this booming sound!

I was in a deep sleep and was dreaming some music only this music picked me up out of my deep sleep and grabbed my attention! I had to grab the remote, turn on the television to read the display and find out what song was playing. I already knew it was George!, but I had to get the details. The song was El Barrio!

One song so damn good and "Absolute" pure, without a doubt powerful BENSON, that as far as I am concerned, SOLD! And I am out my door within minutes and getting this CD. It is a MUST have not only if you are a Benson fan, or a music fan!

Thanks Amazon.com for offering ALL of the sound clips. If my local store in the MALL (I live in a small town) does not have this, I will order it from here ASAP. But I'll pay the Mall prices for this one. And those who know me know thats me saying a lot for any CD that I buy.

This album will truly become a George Benson classic! Once again Mr. Benson shows why he is so often imitated by others. I need not mention no names. His back up support players are proven perfomers in their own right, which adds to the total enjoyment of the album. I predict a Grammy for this one.

As one of my good friends put it, 'Absolute Benson is the best Joe Sample CD I've heard in a while'! Not being critical at all, because I absolutely (get it?, absolutely!) love this CD. But, with Joe Sample adding his expertise to every track (check the liner notes), this is more a compilation than a solo endeavor. No matter what, it is Jazz at it's best. Lovin' it and playin' it to death!

I am a big fan of Benson and buy all his albums, but some of the later ones have been somewhat dissapointing. This one blew me away! The first three cuts are some of his best ever. There is a fantastic cover of Hathaways "The Getto". I also like the fact that he is mostly instumental on this album, although still scatting in his usual way. Don't miss it even if you are not a dedicated fan such as myself. Its quality guitar playing.

I think George Benson is one of the most prolific musicians in the jazz world today. He has such a creative style that is not duplicated by any other musician. To simply put it, he's one of the best. For those of you who really like smooth jazz, this CD is for you. Pick this one up and you won't stop listening or be dissatisfied. It is well worth the money to hear such an eloquent flow of rhythmic harmony coming from the human voice. Definitely five-star music.

I have been following Benson for many years. That means going to concerts (he has been consistently coming to Spain to perform, others don't even bother), listening to interviews, and of course buying his music.

On an interview from a couple of years ago, he mentioned that he would go to Cuba to experience more closely latin music, and that his follow up to "Standing together" would be latin oriented. The result is that he partly kept his word, since there are two very latin tunes (El barrio and The Ghetto), and the rest is very very jazzy. He teams up with institutions such as Joe Sample, Christian McBride and Stevie Gadd, thus the result is excellent for purists. Also note that the production is from Tommy Lipuma on the jazzy tracks. Gone the commercial music that made him worldwide popular, and back to the roots (have you heard old albums of his like "Cheshire Cat"?). So don't be mislead by the label "Smooth jazz". It's not, and it might make believe that this is similar to Kenny "Beurk!" G., or Boney James. It's jazz, with a couple of latin rythmic tracks, period. The El Barrio mix isn't my favourite, although done by two masters, namely "Masters at Work", who have a great cd called "nuyorican soul". Just focus on the first nine tracks and enjoy it !

For the fun of it, this enhanced cd contains a nice surprise : a recording session that shows up in video. Just click on the right buttons of your computer and enjoy it.

This is one of George's best CD's to date! He's still the smoothest there is ! People need to just get over the fact that he's so talented he has the widest fan base of any jazz artist ever! He can sing. That's why he has an added dimension in his soloing with the guitar. His guitar literally sings and scats! I'm tired of these so called jazz purists tripping over the fact that he's got a great voice and has fans that appreciate it as well. Back to this album.
I absolutely loved this whole album and can't wait for the next. If you have a chance to get the DVD be sure to because he does most of these cuts live and he really cuts loose. He and Joe Sample said they waited 30 years to work together! Joe Sample stated, and I quote " I don't think people understand, that George Benson is and INCREDIBLE guitarist!"
I think that should be the name of his next album. "INCREDIBLE BENSON!"

I have been a big fan of G. Benson's guitar playing since hearing some of his early jazz work in the 60's but have been disappointed with much of his light jazz work since then. It's great to hear him focusing on his instrumental playing again. Although I'd still love to hear him return to a more straight ahead jazz format, this album was a pleasant surprise.