| George
Benson, is simply one of the
greatest guitarists in jazz history, but
he is also an amazingly versatile
musician; and that frustrates critics to
no end who would paint him into a narrow
bop box. He can play in just about any
style -- from swing to bop to R&B to pop
-- with supreme taste, a beautiful
rounded tone, terrific speed, a
marvelous sense of logic in building
solos, and, always, an unquenchable urge
to swing. His inspirations may have been
Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery --
and he can do dead-on impressions of
both -- but his style is completely his
own. Not only can he play lead
brilliantly, he is also one of the best
rhythm guitarists around, supportive to
soloists and a dangerous swinger,
particularly in a soul-jazz format. Yet
Benson can also sing in a lush soulful
tenor with mannerisms similar to those
of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway; and
it is his voice that has proved to be
more marketable to the public than his
guitar. Benson is the guitar-playing
equivalent of Nat "King" Cole -- a
fantastic pianist whose smooth way with
a pop vocal eventually eclipsed his
instrumental prowess in the marketplace
-- but unlike Cole, Benson has been
granted enough time after his fling with
the pop charts to reaffirm his jazz
guitar credentials, which he still does
at his concerts.
Benson actually started out
professionally as a singer, performing
in nightclubs at eight, recording four
sides for RCA's X label in 1954, forming
a rock band at 17 while using a guitar
that his stepfather made for him.
Exposure to records by Christian,
Montgomery, and Charlie Parker got him
interested in jazz, and by 1962, the
teenaged Benson was playing in Brother
Jack McDuff's band. After forming his
own group in 1965, Benson became another
of talent scout John Hammond's major
discoveries, recording two highly
regarded albums of soul-jazz and hard
bop for Columbia and turning up on
several records by others, including
Miles Davis' Miles in the Sky. He
switched to Verve in 1967, and, shortly
after the death of Montgomery in June
1968, producer Creed Taylor began
recording Benson with larger ensembles
on A&M (1968-1969) and big groups and
all-star combos on CTI (1971-1976).
While the A&M and CTI albums
certainly earned their keep and made
Benson a guitar star in the jazz world,
the mass market didn't catch on until he
began to emphasize vocals after signing
with Warner Bros. in 1976. His first
album for Warner Bros., Breezin', became
a Top Ten hit on the strength of its
sole vocal track, "This Masquerade," and
this led to a string of hit albums in an
R&B-flavored pop mode, culminating with
the Quincy Jones-produced Give Me the
Night. Benson reversed his field
late in the '80s to record a fine album
of standards, Tenderly, and another with
the Basie band, his guitar now featured
more prominently. His pop-flavored work
also improved noticeably in the '90s.
Benson retains the ability to spring
surprises on his fans and critics, like
his dazzlingly idiomatic TV appearance
and subsequent record date with Benny
Goodman in 1975 in honor of John
Hammond, and his awesome command of the
moment at several Playboy Jazz Festivals
in the 1980s. His latter-day recordings
include the 1998 effort Standing
Together and 2000's Absolute Benson. All
Blues appeared in spring 2001 followed
by Irreplaceable in 2004. |
