Customer Reviews

Bad Benson

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first five tracks are: Take Five; Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams; My Latin Brother; No Sooner Said Than Done; and Full Compass. The last four tracks are as listed.
I must confess that although George Benson is a pretty good singer, George Benson the jazz guitarist appeals to me far more than George Benson the vocalist. And as a jazz guitarist, most of his finest work was done while under contract to the famed CTI jazz label. Among the many fine albums he cut for CTI, Bad Benson ranks near the top.
There is a lot of great music on this CD which opens with an exuberant arrangement of Paul Desmond's Take Five that is among the best interpretations of that classic that I've heard. Other favorites from the original issue are inspired renditions of Benson's own My Latin Brother and the Phil Upchurch composition, No Sooner Said Than Done.
Two of the three bonus tracks really are "bonuses" that add immeasurably to the enjoyment of this recording. First, there is a fine rendition of the famed Take The "A" Train, but what really puts the CD over the top is a 13-minute jam written by CTI house arranger Don Sebesky called Serbian Blue. With Benson on lead, Phil Upchurch on rhythm, Kenny Barron on piano, Ron Carter on Bass, and Steve Gadd on drums, Serbian Blue becomes one of the finest extended jams of its time.
Bad Benson is definitely essential Benson. This is not only one of Benson's best CTI recordings, it is in the top five of all his recordings. If you are a George Benson fan and haven't heard this yet, you are in for a real treat. I recommend that you order it immediately.

Recorded in 1974, this is another classic George Benson album from the same era and in the same vein, as Beyond the Blue Horizon, which I reviewed recently. Producer Creed Taylor has once again barred Benson from singing so we've got an hour or so of pure jazz guitar.

I got the CD mainly for "Take Five", the Paul Desmond tune made popular by Dave Brubeck and for "Full Compass", which is another very unusual but satisfying composition written by Phil Upchuch. I've had both tunes on cassette for years and have always loved them. But since getting this CD, I've now also grown to love "My Latin Brother", one of Benson's own compositions and "No Sooner Said Than Done" (also written by Upchurch), with its cool sound effects. I can't quite work out if the effects are connected to the guitar or to the keys but they make the song much more interesting to listen to. Benson is backed by a solid rhythm section as is always the case with Creed Taylor productions - including Rob Carter on bass and Steve Gadd on drums - but most notable on this album are Kenny Barron on piano and Upchurch on rhythm guitar, (and on electric bass on "Full Compass" and percussion on "My Latin Brother" and "Serbian Blue"). The orchestration is arranged and conducted by Don Sebesky.

The three "New Mix" bonus tracks were apparently recorded as part of the same session but timing restrictions imposed by the old LP format meant they couldn't be included. I have mixed views on them. Take "The "A" Train" doesn't really do anything for me and to be frank, the damned whistle gets on my nerves. "Serbian Blue" is the killer track. A Don Sebesky composition and over 13 mins long, to me it goes many places and says many things. As for the closer, "From Now On" (which has Benson playing solo guitar) all I can say is that I sorely wish it were a bit longer. At only 2mins 20 secs, just when I'm really getting into it, it's all over.

Ah, well. It's still a very enjoyable CD. Not quite up there with "Beyond The Blue Horizon" but a definitive five star set nonetheless

PS. Another cool route to some good value vintage George Benson is via the "Compact Jazz" series from Verve. They've got a full roster; from Count Basie to Stan Getz to Gerry Mulligan to Sarah Vaughan. I recently picked up two Wes Montgomery CDs from the collection, one by Dinah Washington and Compact Jazz: George Benson. It features songs from Benson's earlier work like the 1967 album "Giblet Gravy" among others and features guest artistes like Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham and Jimmy Smith. Well worth a look.

In the jazz vernacular, "bad" is a term for something toally hot and beyond "good". Such is the right description for this disc.
Of all the albums Benson recorded for CTI, this is my absolute favorite, and the one I would recommend to anyone interested in exploring his work for Creed Taylor.

At this point in his career, Benson's style was fully developed and on this album, an amalgam of bop, blues, funk, and Latin influences, you get to hear him at his best. Supremely confident and playing with incredible power and fluidity, Benson just tears through the material. The album starts off in high gear with an uptempo funkified version of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five". The sheer technical prowess Benson exhibits on this cut is exhilarating, yet never is his playing devoid of soul or complex harmonic ideas. "My Latin Brother", "Full Compass", and "No Sooner Said Than Done" are equally brillant. In fact there is simply not a weak track on the entire album.

...It opens with the classic "Take Five" and Benson's playing is top notch throughout. This is one of his last recordings before Benson mellowed out and becameg more of a singer than a great guitar player.

George Benson was an extremely young superstar on jazz guitar, recording his first single with RCA Victor in New York at the tender age of 10 years old! From there, his name appears in a jazz Who's Who of some of the biggest names in the industry culminating with Miles Davis. He was also a protégé of Wes Montgomery who's influence is written all over Benson's work ever since, even easily recognizable on his 80's "pop" albums. George was one of the handful of A&M artists under the wing of Creed Taylor who Creed took over to his new label CTI Jazz and under this new label, George made some of his best recordings ever. A month after The Beatles released Abbey Road (September 1969), George went into the studio and in only two weeks (October 22nd to November 5th) he recorded an incredible and amazing "tribute" to the album, the fusion masterpiece THE OTHER SIDE OF ABBEY ROAD (released early 1970). This album was my personal introduction to George Benson, to modern jazz music in general, and to CTI with whom I would have a loving relationship for many years! I then picked up WHITE RABBIT up as soon as it came out, prompted mainly by the track listings of "White Rabbit" and "California Dreamin'". From there on I was hooked on jazz, especially jazz interpretations of rock music, but also I found myself coming into my years as a new student of the jazz medium. So by the time I noted "Take Five" on the track listing of BAD BENSON, I was armed to the teeth and had already acquired other CTI jazz recordings (Hubert Laws' Rite of Spring, Kenny Burrell God Bless the Child, Deodato Prelude, Billy Cobham Spectrum).

I was by no means a jazz neophyte, my father was a huge big band audiophile and he strayed often into the worlds of bop, especially Bird and Brubeck, so an elementary introduction to the new moguls of the fusion movements was accomplished quickly thanks to the help of CTI Records which I found myself partaking of part and parcel. Benson, Deodato, Kenny Burrell, Airto, these folks were making music like no other and a classic rocker with tunnel vision, I was not. THE OTHER SIDE OF ABBEY ROAD was spread primarily by word of mouth among Beatles fans and many of us were young enough and experimental enough to not only immediately fall in love with this recording but become deeply interested in jazz in general, and more specifically, the artists playing on the record, most all of whom were releasing their own albums on CTI. CTI jazz albums sported incredibly hip photography (all from photographer Pete Turner) with extremely vivid cover art and color. The albums were all gatefold covers made of heavy cardboard, very glossy and durable and probably expensive to produce. The result was nice thick high-quality vinyl records, engineered for pure sound rivaling the classical recording industry (read: Angel Records, Deutsche Grammophone, etc), and encased in solid sturdy enclosures built to last physically and esthetically. Creed Taylor was a producer for Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss' A&M Records when they asked him to start a subsidiary label for their jazz musicians (mainly Wes Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, George Benson, and Antonio Carlos Jobim). So CTI Records was born in 1967, beginning with the artists just mentioned and an "in-house" staff of musicians including Herbie Hancock and Bob James on keys, Ron Carter and Stanley Clarke on bass, Billy Cobham on drums, Airto Moreira on percussion, Hubert Laws on flute, all of whom had their own albums on CTI with the support of the other musicians. With the help of Airto and Jobim, Creed Taylor would recruit a number of Brazilian jazz artists to the label as well, Deodato, Walter Wanderly, Milton Nascimento to name a few. In 1970 Creed Taylor would launch CTI as an independent label and took all of his star-power with him. Soon he attracted Kenny Burrell, Grover Washington Jr, Milt Jackson, Chet Baker, Nina Simone, and others. In 1971 he split his "soul jazz" artists on a sub-label called Kudu Records starting with Grover Washington Jr.

This then is the background from which I have reviewed THE OTHER SIDE OF ABBEY ROAD, WHITE RABBIT, and BAD BENSON. Although sparse, Benson contributed some of his first vocals to THE OTHER SIDE OF ABBEY ROAD. He would not sing again until the mega-hit crossover album BREEZIN'" in '76, and then only on one track, "This Masquerade". Luckily for those of us who enjoy his strong vocals and scatting, the follow-up '77 album IN FLIGHT would provide four more vocal tracks and WEEKEND IN L.A. would contribute some more! But for the most part, before BREEZIN', George Benson was a guitarist, and what a guitarist he was.

Benson, it seemed was beginning to tire of his modus operandi at CTI and by the time BAD BENSON began recording, he was ready for moving on. He still had two albums to go under his contract and Creed Taylor wanted him to remain a "guitarist", but George wanted to sing too. In addition to that, his new lineup included Phil Upchurch, newly signed to the label and just off the heels of the incredible soul R&B master Donny Hathaway's band. Phil had cut his teeth along with Donny in Curtis Mayfield's Impressions. Phil was another accomplished guitar virtuoso so George and Phil played off of each other quite well, and in the teaming of both of them, combined with George's newfound urges to step up his game, the guitar work on BAD BENSON is unusually hot and aggressive compared to his work on previous albums.

There are reviews aplenty here itemizing each song and pretty much everyone has the same to say, this is one standout album from George and each and every track has something terrific to offer. Unlike a few reviewers, I find no fault at all in any of the tracks, each one standing alone as perfect composition, including the "A Train", annoying whistle and all (it really is not that annoying nor is it that repetitive). The album has golden moments ("Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams", "Changing World" and "From Now On") and fantastic jams (pretty much everything else!) so just walk away from this review knowing one thing for certain. Bad Benson is in the class of Best Benson!

BAD BENSON is modern jazz guitarists dream fulfilled.

The Best Benson collection:
(Jazz)
* The Other Side Of Abbey Road Other Side of Abbey Road
* White Rabbit White Rabbit (CTI Records 40th Anniversary Edition)
* Bad Benson Bad Benson
* Breezin' Breezin
* In Flight In Flight (Deluxe Edition)
* Weekend In L.A. Weekend in L.A.
* Collaboration (with Earl Klugh) Collaboration
(pop)
* Give Me The Night Give Me the Night
* In Your Eyes In Your Eyes
* 20/20 20/20

If there's two words you'd have to use to define this album outside of George Benson itself,it would have be...PHIL UPCHURCH!!!! In the pre Marcus Miller soul/jazz/funk/fusion community there were few better known multi instrumentalist session men around. And he is all over this album,not only doing doublt duty with Benson on guitar even more significantly than Earl Klugh had done the year before on Body Talk but also contributing some bass,percussion and compositions as the album goes. And always one to keep musically on the move Benson was again finding new ways to express his musical vision. Always possessed of a quiet power in his tone on guitar Benson decided to take this occasion to add some heavy,aggressive muscle to his style. This gives the music a powerful kick alone of course but if one was to really make use of that type of playing you'd need one thing above all others-A LOT of uptempo tunes.

Relying more on interpretation that original compositions here Benson starts out in a guitar duet mode with Upchurch on "Take Five",Paul Desmond's west coast jazz classic from his Dave Brubeck era. Considering how that song helped invent new time signitures for jazz anyway it helps Benson reimagine his own sound too as he lets the songs uniquely patterned rhythms guide him into some of his most creatively stimulating playing. Softer tunes such as "Summer Wishes,Winter Dreans" and "The Changing World" find Benson playing in his now firey style over more sudtle rhythms,giving it all the more drama. On his own original "My Latin Brother" and Upchurch's "No Sooner Said Than Done" both get into a strong uptempo jazz-funk vibe again,in both cases getting into some strong percussion. Now for some SERIOUS musical fury Upchurch's dizzying "Full Compass" has it all-a frantic tempo,atonal harmonic improvisations and some DANGEROUS solos from Benson and Upchurch.

This album is also home to three exellent bonus tracks. One being a spirited jazz-funk take on Billy Strayhorn's "Take The "A" Train" and Don Sebesky's twelve minute+ "Serbian Blue",an almost Steely Dan-like 70's jazz-pop/rock fusion with Benson taking full advantage of the extended lengh for some inspiring rhythm and lead soloing. If it's not Benson himself tearing it up here,it's Upchurch or Ron Carter making his bass vamps moo like a cow. That matched with some often superhuman-seeming drumming from Steve Gadd,one of the few people who could probably keep up with these guys, this album is hot and heavy. While it doesn't have as much of the bubbly,supple approch of the previous few albums before this it showcases Benson's musical vision in a different manner than before. His playing is more dramatic,the music more theatrically funky. And no matter what's said this album emerges as one of his finest.

THIS IS A GREAT CD BY GEORGE BENSON, RECORDED IN 1974 ON THE CTI LABEL. THIS ONE HAS SOME GREAT RHYTHM GUITAR BACKUP BY THE GREAT STUDIO SESSION PLAYER PHIL UPCHURCH (TAKING THE PLACE OF EARL KLUGH WHO DID BACKUP ON "BODY TALK", MY FAVORITE G.B. ALBUM). THE BEST CUT ON THIS CD IS THE DAVE BRUBECK (REALLY PAUL DESOMOND ) SONG "TAKE FIVE", THIS IS A VERY GOOD ALL-AROUND GEORGE BENSON ALBUM , BETTER THAN HIS LATER STUFF.

This is the album that got me hooked on George Benson. While all tracks on the album are well worth a listen (or two...), strangely enough the 2 stand-out tracks are bonus tracks that apparently weren't included on the original LP: "Serbian Blue" and "From Now On". "Serbian Blue" is a basic blues arrangement, with an opening guitar section, a middle keyboard section and a closing guitar section. While the opening section (first 3 minutes) is rather uninspiring (I'm pretty sure that's not Benson playing), the keyboard solo (next 3 minutes) nicely sets things up for the final guitar section (remaining 7 minutes!), which is absolutely mind-blowing! There's just so much flawlessly executed creativity and energy in those 7 minutes that I wonder if jazz/blues soloing can get any better than this. "From Now On" is a wonderful, subdued guitar solo-piece, in which GB effortlessly moves through all kinds of jazz harmonies without losing sight of the overall melody. Buy it - you won't be disappointed.

...for it might fall off when you keep shaking it while listening to this cd. One moment it lulls you into a 'groovy' mood while the next would take you brimming with energy. Personal favorites are 'Take Five' (as loved it as much as I liked Brubeck's), 'My Latin Brother' and 'Full Compass'.

There are two sides of George Benson. There is the signing pop star that many non jazz fans know, who gives sold out concerts all over the world. Then there is my favorite side of Benson. The great jazz guitar player, who used to put out great instrumental albums of excellent originals, and great jazz/funk versions of old jazz standards.

This album is the epitome of that side of George Benson. The side in which shows Benson's excellent guitar playing. His flashy and talented chops.

The album opens with Dave Brubeck's classic, Take Five. This time, done in a funk setting, Benson does this jazz classic like its his own. Nice playing all around! Benson's original, My Latin Brother is a nice groove.

The others are nice 70's pop tunes, and funk masterpieces. Drummer Steve Gadd gets some spotlight and some funky drum solos. Ron Carter is an excellent addition to this group also.

If you love this side of Benson, the funky instrumental side, then this album is perfect for you!