Customer Reviews

In Flight

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

 

 

I first became aware of George Benson through the "Breezin" album, and his lovely rendition of "This Masquerade." I loved that album a lot, and as a senior in high school, I was starting to build my album collection at the time, focusing on jazz music. When this record was released, I didn't think George could top what he did on "Breezin." We had an album radio station here in L.A. that focused on R&B and jazz artists, KUTE 102 FM. One of the first tracks they played from this album was "Everything Must Change." When I heard George's rendition, I set out to purchase this album as soon as I had saved up enough money. This is one of George's best albums, where he's reaching out to broaden his audience, yet introducing the new converts to some of the best fusion jazz played in the late 70's. To me he followed up "Breezin" with a product that definetly "takes off." Anyone who loves George Benson needs to have this album in their collection. Thanks for letting me share my feelings about George and this album.

After the mega success of Breezin', George Benson had a tough act to follow. With 1977's In Flight, he continues in the Breezin' vein with another sterling collection of jazz-r&b tunes. "Nature Boy" is a solid take on the old standard, but he really shines on the cover of War's "The World Is A Ghetto", in which he places some inspired riffs, and the beautiful "Valdez In The Country". In Flight again brought him into the top ten, but it, of course, failed to match the success of Breezin'.

If you look for earlier Benson masterpieces, I can only recommend any of the trilogy Breezin-Livin inside your love-In flight. This in flight starts with a brilliant cover version of the "Nature Boy", and goes on for five more tracks of high quality (listen closely to rythmic "the world is a ghetto" and "Valdez in the country"). One of the Benson albums you must have, if you are one of his fans, though the sound may sound a bit "old" (but remember this is almost 25 years old !)

I actually love this album since I grew up heavily influenced on most album he put out like 1976's Breezin' (one of my favorites), 1977's, '79's or sumthin Livin' Inside Your Love and 1978's Weekend in LA (LIVE). This is the one that made it big but it failed to reach the commerical success of his previous album Breezin'. 'Cuz that album Breezin' he put out in '76 which one him his 1st Grammy and definitely became the 1st jazz album 2 go platinum. Yeah Big ol' George be putting some real stuff there. I seriously love every song that he did on this album.

1. Nature Boy- More of a sanctified song with a funky-jazz feel with strings attached to it. George will be doing the singing and scatting on this one along w/ his guitar.

2. Wind & I- Really love the tenderness that's in the song. Reminds me of my favorite of all-time of jazz guitarists, Mr. Norman Brown.

3. The World is a Ghetto- A deep cover from the classic remake from the group WAR which I like. It's real disco and more R&B looking

4. I'm Gonna Love You More- Takes me back aside the different artists I listen to Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Bob James, Musiq, Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, Quincy Jones, etc. Love the sound of the flutes and strings that's doing that. Like to say a pure jazz song w/ some feel 2 it.

5. Valdez in the Country- Remake tribute to his idol, the late Donny Hathaway (one of my heroes of all-times, love how he sounds w/ his singing and playing similar to my labelmate Stevie Wonder which I'm a huge fan) who is also that same I told you, disco-funk.

6. Everything Must Change- We all that did that one, my main man Quincy Jones on the album "Body Heat" which I already have on LP but soon get it on CD to carry w/ me. This use to be my favorite songs of all-time b/c the power and the message to it. Makes u feel so spirituality.

Great job on this GB. Wish u all the success. Must-have.

This is George Benson's finest album - a tour-de-force that was even better than it's predecessor "Breezin"!

Most reviews of "In Flight" that you see here are for the original Warner Brothers CD issue from the 90's, not the Deluxe Edition on Friday Music, which I'm reviewing here -

The re-mastering here is an improvement over the previous CD version, with the same volume overall, but noticeably more clarity on the high end (cymbals, etc.)

However, the bonus track "The World Is A Ghetto - 12" Disco Version" is identical to the album version - i.e. the same track is on the CD twice! (The original vinyl 12" single "disco mix" included the song in the un-altered album version - no remixing, overdubbing, or editing - this was fairly common in the 70's, especially on promo 12" singles)

The other bonus track is the single edit of "Everything Must Change", and there are other single edits from this album (Nature Boy 4:00, Gonna Love You More 3:30, etc) that could have been added in place of the redundant version of "The World Is A Ghetto". So, this is a welcome reissue/remaster of a classic album, but with a simple and obvious mistake that is annoying for collectors and was easily avoidable.

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.

His CTI releases were some of the best of his career, fusion jazz recordings with doses of bop: SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME ('68), TELL IT LIKE IT IS ('69), I GOT A WOMAN AND SOME BLUES ('69), THE OTHER SIDE OF ABBEY ROAD ('70), BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON ('71), and then, WHITE RABBIT ('71). For those interested, the rest of his CTI catalogue, all wonderful albums, some more wonderful than others, is BODY TALK ('73), BAD BENSON ('74), GOOD KING BAD ('75), IN CONCERT (CARNEGIE HALL '75), and BENSON & FARRELL (with Joe Farrell, '76, his last album before signing with Warner Brothers). By the time George had reached the final fruits of his work with CTI, he had added a second guitarist to his arsenal, session-phenom Phil Upchurch, originally of The Dells and Curtis Mayfield's Impressions. Phil had cut some solid grooves in jazz with Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, and Ramsey Lewis, and with George he had found a terrific tenure as rhythm guitarist and opposing lead with electric, where George had often used his protégé Earl Klugh. Phil also brought to the table his work with the legendary and tragic Donny Hathaway. Donny was doing in the early 70's from the Soul/R&B angle, what George was about to do from the Jazz perspective, and that is crossing over genre. Donny leaned over to jazz from R&B as much as George leaned over to R&B from jazz. Both artists effectively met in the middle though unfortunately not at the same time. It was a shame that only through Phil Upchurch, would the two artists ever connect. Warner Brothers began some serious diversifications in the mid-70's and looking to add a jazz element to their already successful jazz-rock fusion acts they lucratively courted George Benson at the end of his contract with CTI. George was already combining R&B with soul-jazz and the this was beginning the new trappings of what many call "smooth jazz", a lighter jazz with pop accessibility. Cross-over music was starting to pay off in royalties and the eyes of producer Tommy LiPuma (Barbra Streisand, The Pointer Sisters, The Crusaders, Al Jarreau, Dave Mason, Michael Franks, and even Miles Davis) fell square on George Benson as he began to set up Warner Jazz.

In 1976, under the watchful eye of LiPuma, George Benson assembled a perfect band anchored with Phil Upchurch (guitar), Stanley Banks (bass), Ronnie Foster (keyboards), Harvey Mason (drums), and Ralph McDonald (percussion). This was the core group that Benson would shepherd through three platinum award winning albums that set critics on their ears and fans on the edge of their seats. For many fans, the unparalleled albums, BREEZIN' (76), IN FLIGHT ('77), and WEEKEND IN L.A. ('77), were the penultimate George Benson albums. From the "smooth jazz" perspective, there are none better. If you add in the "pure" jazz albums THE OTHER SIDE OF ABBEY ROAD ('70), WHITE RABBIT ('71), and BAD BENSON ('74), you have a half dozen of the best jazz albums ever made by any contemporary jazz musician.

For some fans, IN FLIGHT takes off and soars even higher than BREEZIN' and that may very well be true for you if you have BREEZIN' and have not heard this album. IN FLIGHT showcases more vocals on the album (three and a half songs) yet still remains on the smooth jazz path (it will be another 4 years before George releases his first "pop" album). The vocal tracks are sung in contemporary jazz fashion, two being "standards" with jazz backing (the ballad "Everything Must Change" and Morris Albert's schmaltzy, but delivered by Benson in uplifting reverence, "Gonna Love You More"). The two vocal tracks that really pack a punch are the real winners on this set which in my opinion raise IN FLIGHT to a level degree higher than BREEZIN'. First, the album opener is the haunting "Nature Boy", written by a bucolic hippie who lived the lifestyle outlined in the song, a man who went around in sandals and white robes, bearded with shoulder-length hair, and camped underneath the L's of the Hollywood sign above Los Angeles. Eden Ahbez wrote the song and gave it to Nat King Cole who turned it into a mega-hit single across the jazz and pop charts himself. Benson's beautiful version can only be described as a "perfect" song, and it holds within its 6 minutes, all of the elements which make George Benson's music so darned excellent (including Ronnie's evocative electric piano solo, Upchurch's haunting wah-guitar swimming under the surface, and George's trademark guitar-scat vocal harmonies). The other "half" vocal is delivered in the centerpiece of the album. George Benson's cover of War's "The World Is A Ghetto", a track which easily falls into the 5 best recordings he has ever made. The song is fully half over, instrumentally, before George begins to sing the lyrics, which are delivered more, once again, as an additional musical instrument, than as lyrics for lyrics sake. The almost 10 minute long song is another exposé on Benson's band and is clearly one of his all-time best right out of the gate. If you do not love this song, you are no fan of George Benson! The other two songs on the album, rounding it out to six total perfect performances, are the instrumentals. Phil Upchurch met Donny Hathaway in Curtis Mayfield's band The Impressions. Phil worked with Donny over the course of his first three albums at Atco and from Donny's jazz-leaning soul album masterpiece "Extension Of A Man" he brought George the fine instrumental "Valdez In The Country". As much as it is one of Donny Hathaway's best songs ever, George both accomplishes keeping it true to the original, and delivering a stunning interpretation to make it his own. Where the original was a Rhodes electric piano masterpiece, George lays his frets and fingers into a guitar translation that channels right from BAD BENSON and still leaves room for Ronnie Foster to tinkle the ivories himself. Speaking of Ronnie, the second track on the album, sandwiched in between Nature Boy and The World Is A Ghetto, is the Ronnie-penned instrumental "The Wind And I", a standout work for the band that is the personification of smooth jazz sound and predates the works that Lee Ritenour and Fourplay would come to exemplify. This was "smooth jazz" before anyone even really called it that. FM-friendly jazz that burst forth from college dormitories, progressive radio stations, and mainstream American living rooms. It crossed generational barriers as sons and daughters would listen openly to music that their mothers and fathers could enjoy. This is the kind of music that closed the generational gaps and the racial gaps as well as, (despite the disapproval of so-called "jazz purists" who looked down their noses at Benson's "leaving his roots behind him"), brought rock music lovers into the drawing room of jazz performers. IN FLIGHT can be more rewarding than BREEZIN' simply because the album offers more of the best of what we all loved in BREEZIN'. IN FLIGHT, like BREEZIN', sold double platinum right away but for some reason, music critics laid into it for (1) being more of the same of BREEZIN' and (2) selling Benson further down the river from the hard jazz he worked in at CTI. Despite this, his fans love the album and it sold quite well. However, probably because of the critics, the album has not endured as well as BREEZIN' which sold another platinum in the years following its release. George Benson was the rightful heir to the throne vacated by Wes Montgomery, and nothing he gave birth to in the years after he moved to Warner Brothers, was anything short of deserving of that title. Even in the "pop" years of the 80's, George has always gifted us with not only his velvet voice but perfect guitar work descended from a master of the instrument. This album is no exception, and rather more so, it is one of the best showcases of Benson and his band, ever made, perhaps the best depending upon your point of view. Once again, buy this album, listen once and enjoy for life!

Then go get yourself WEEKEND IN L.A.

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

I take the cynical view: After the comparatively phenomenal success of the previous year's Breezin', I believe Benson and the people behind him figured they'd cash by giving the people even more of what they'd concluded they wanted. And let's be honest; although the instrumental title track of that album was all over the radio too, it was the vocal track "This Masquerade" that was the real big hit. A Grammy winner, no less.

So this time, Benson goes for not just one vocal track, not just two, not three but a whole FOUR! - "Nature Boy", "The World Is A Ghetto", "Gonna Love You More" and "Everything Must Change" - launching the album (and his career) fully into pop territory. My friend Derek was right in his review some time ago; the balance was all wrong and I heard that a lot of long-established fans went running.

Benson probably drew in some new ones though and in fairness, "Nature Boy" is a brilliant track; the album probably went double platinum on the strength of that song alone. It's pure soul and it's on this track and on this album that he starts to emphasise his trademark - scatting along to his guitar improvisations. Of the other vocal tracks, "The World Is A Ghetto" is my favourite and while the other two are okay, they are nothing really special. The man is a fantastic singer though, it has to be said.

When it comes to the two instrumental tracks, Benson pays homage to his spiritual mentor Donny Hathaway by doing an interesting cover of "Valdez In The Country" (which Hathaway wrote) and Ronnie Foster-penned "The Wind And I" is again, pleasant enough. But this is not 'real' jazz and it's not Benson at his best either. The album's saving grace in the end, is the brilliant contribution by the session band: Phil Upchurch on rhythm guitar, Ronnie Foster on electric piano & mini-moog, Jorge Dalto on clavinet & acoustic piano, Stanley Banks on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Ralph MacDondald on percussion. Also playing a huge part in elevating this album are Tommy LiPuma's excellent production and Claus Ogerman's lush orchestration. Collectively, everyone involved succeeds in elevating the album to something really special and definitely worth having in spite of its weaknesses. Put it this way: if you take the view that this is a soul/r&b album with jazz influences then it's a five star album all the way.

But, if like me, you view it as a jazz album by a jazz artiste that is bending over a bit too far backwards to appease the masses, then it falls short. Four stars is the best I can do.

1977's "In Flight" is a fitting Album title for this Superstar. Coming off of the magic of 1976 this definitely one of George Benson's best albums, second being Give Me The Night (1980). From beginning to end each song captures and displays each of George's talents with his voice and the guitar. If you like George Benson and really want to get a feel for his work this is the album.

My two all time favorite songs are on this album with Nature Boy and Valdez in the Country.

This CD, produced by the great Tommy Lipuma, is way too short. I don't own the CD, as I love the fold out edition available on vinyl.
Things kick off with the excellent 'cover version of' nature Boy, which for me comes into it's own when Mr. Benson's 'scatting' alongside his guitar playing take over when the singing vocals end. Funky & Superb.
'The Wind & I' follow, which is a great instrumental showing the great mans' skills to the fullest, along worth a violin section. Another cover version 'The World is a Ghetto, where once again, Mr. Benson sounds on great form, his guitar even singing( well to me that how good it sounds)
'Gonna Love you more' for me, is one of those sugary songs George always has on an album, and it's my least favorite cut on here.
Another Cover version follows; the Donny Hathaway penned 'Valdez in the Country', which, maybe because this album was released in 1977, sound very funky. Luv it. Things are rounded off my the MORish 'Everything Must Change'.
On reflection this CD is short & sweet, with only two duff songs to boot.
If you enjoy George Benson the Jazz Guitarist, as opposed to the Singer( there are some singing cuts on here, but thankfully not too many) you'll love this. Enjoy.