Customer Reviews

The Essential George Benson

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What an interesting album and what a great cross-sectional study of George Benson's evolution from young R&B based jazz-guitarist to easy jazz-pop phenomenom. Recording quality is generally good, except for 1-2 live songs. The listener can obviously take their pick which they prefer, but there's no denying that while George is best known for his Breezin and other albums from the 80's, he had a real eclectic body of work behind him that established him as a jazz leader. If you're one of those types who cry, "Hey he sold out", I'd counter that he brought the best of jazz to the pop world. The songs Breezin' and On Broadway are loads of fun, simply because they are well written and polished performances.

Before this pop period, Disc 1 showcases George's roots music and versatility with other players' bands. Especially interesting are guitar trio with Jimmy Griff (or is it MacDuff?) and a somewhat avant-garde piece with Miles Davis from the late-60's, Paraphernalia. George makes it all work because he is a consumate musician. Disc 1 ends, and Disc 2 begins, with Georges recordings on the Creed Taylor label, reaching for rock favorites like White Rabbit. Ironically, this is his least successful work, certainly less satisfying than Breezin. You can almost hear George think, "I've got to break out of this straight jazz rut, maybe this will work". It sounds overproduced and forced. Breezin is a lot more fun.

Finally, my personal favorite is the killer Hip Skip, recorded in 1980 with Tony Williams drummer. What a funky tune, and how essential George's lead and comping are to make this work. Anything George does after this body of work, is just icing on the cake.

Fine 2-disk CD set. Disk 1 holds mostly energetic selections from GB's oeuvre, with only one piece (Ode to a Kudu) having a more reflective, though not somber, hue. Benson's trademark style (paralleling his lickety-split guitar licks with his voice) is downplayed here. He is often the soloist, but sometimes accompanies other band members. Most tracks are instrumentals except for "A Foggy Day" -- a fun standard that that retains GB's good-feeling style. "California Dreaming" is a great rewrite of the sometimes plodding Mamas and Papas' classic. Jefferson Airplane's hit, "White Rabbit" gets a great "Bolero"-like treatment that brings the ancient classic alive.

Disk 2 is a little less interesting. No compilation of essential GB would be complete (I'm afraid) without the top 40 classic hits "Breezin'" and "This Masquerade" and "On Broadway" and "Give Me the Night." These have been so overplayed on the radio that I don't care to hear them again. But YMMV.

It's nice to know that there's more to GB than his 15 minutes of fame in the late 70s. His non-hit material was fun to listen to. Easy on the ears and great for repeat listens.

I have heard George Benson over the years. I was driving a few days ago and heard a cut from the Essential LP and it blew my mind. I love and so will you. Buy it and you will be in a jazz man's bliss.