Customer Reviews

Best of George Benson Live

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

 

 

I was really excited to get my hands on this album, as "Weekend In L.A." is one of the greatest live jazz albums ever recorded. Be warned...this album is no "Weekend In L.A.".

The audio quality is marginal, as the vocals are almost hard to hear, in parts. I mentioned to my wife that it almost sounded as though someone stood in the audience, with a digital recorder, and made a recording of the concert. The sound is very treble-heavy with only a marginal amount of bass. I'm actually kind of surprised that GRP would put out a CD with this kind of audio quality.

As far as the track selection, this collection is heavy on George's pop/R&B hits. There are a couple of guitar-only tracks, like "Breezin'" and "Hipping the Hop". Other than that, every other song contains vocals. (Not my personal favorite phase of his career, but to each his own)

All in all, I was disappointed, and am surprised I actually gave only 3 stars to a George Benson release. He is one of my favorite artists, and I really think GRP did him an injustice by releasing this low quality recording.

Great cd and song collection,recorded live the sound quality is not the best unfortunately.

Ok guys, like you I own many, and I mean it, many George Benson albums and of course I own "WE in LA" since I was a kid, so we're on the same page. Obviously, I perfectly know how big George could be if he simply would choose to play pure Jazz or more instrumental "serious" music. I know it. But I want to point out that this album surprised me a little bit. I already had the dvd from this concert so I knew by memory George' solos and the selection too, so I did buy this one just because I found it at a blowout price. I thought "ok, I'll buy it just to fill my collection of George' albums". And I even thought looking at the selection "they could put in here some of the standards he sang that night, ... how many versions of On Broadway do I need?".. But once I got home, I found myself listening to this concert several times in a row and never get tired of it. I mean, in the end I love it. It surprises me because I didn't think to listen to it more than once just to check it out before putting it on the shelf. And I'm loving it instead. There are a lot of passages guitar aficionados would love, ... if you listen carefully in every tune George plays some gems only he could conceive and play, boppish and bluesish lines that send shivers down your spine, even if the tunes are smooth jazz or easy listening tunes ... and moreover there are some tunes that are purely based on instrumental guitar magic (Breezin -wonderful solo!!!-, On Broadway -Killer version!!!-, Deeper that you think -really soulful solo!!!-, Hoppin' the hop -boppish solo!!!!-, etc ...). Yes there are some easy listening tunes like Give me the night etc, but in the end I love the compilation. The band is very well assembled and play masterfully these arrangements, ... you have Joe Sample at the piano on a couple of tunes, I mean, it's an album that has its own right to be. I'm happy to own it. Really, believe me, I'm a Jazzcat ,... but even if this is an easy listening George, he's a chameleon you know, it seems he plays easy stuff, but who can outplay him and who has his class? ... Here he plays the wolf in Little Red Cap Dresses role!!!!

(For my friends audiophiles: the album is not very well recorded. It's average at best. People that will listen to the album on a common Ipod, a normal system or through the pc will never note it, but audiophiles with good systems will find it a mediocre recording. Too bad because the music is good, George is great as always, and it was recorded in a nice hall .., but, my friends audio enthusiasts, it's not one of those albums that you find GOOD -you know what I mean- ... for a nice audiophile "smooth jazz experience" go for the last live by Brian Culbertson, "Live from the Inside" which is entertaining musically, but GREAT from an audiophile point of view. Fantastic! believe me).

Here's the thing that really makes this album, simply put: Benson is still one of the great jazz guitarists, and there's plenty of evidence of that fact to be found here. His solo spots on "Breezin'" and "This Masquerade" exceed their studio counterparts, in the former case by some distance. If you're a fan of his guitar work (and why wouldn't you be?), this album will surprise and delight you with its abundance and quality, at this late date.

Further, the song selection is nice, representative, though indeed a bit skimpy (though the album is about an hour long). Benson's voice sounds good throughout, not quite as overly mannered as he's been prone to be in recent years. So, musically, the album is a winner, no question.

I do agree, though, that the sound is somewhat wanting (the band is too recessed in the mix, and this larger venue's acoustics don't really service a good live mix). Still, that's a fairly minor quibble, and it's by no means bad sounding; but, there's room to wish for better.

If you're a fan, and don't mind a cross section of his more R&B material with lite jazz (albeit with stellar guitar work), you're bound to find this record the most exciting thing Benson's released in years.

I was actually at this gig in the splendid Waterfront Hall in Belfast. Its already available on DVD and I would also recommend that item also as it really brings acoss the excellent atmosphere of the gig...and the dodgy dancing in particular.

The tracks here are pretty much what you'd expect,with a couple of tracks off his then latest release. Its a very polished set and it certainly does justice to the material. Only ten tracks on this release. The several big band/swing songs played on the night don't make the cut, perhaps unfortunately, but if you like George Benson you can't fail to like this set. Buy it.