Jazz Articles about George Benson

Jimmy Smith: The Boss

by Germein Linares
March 1, 2005

Recorded at Paschal's La Carousel in Atlanta, Georgia, this '68 date has Jimmy Smith's organ paired with George Benson and Nathan Page on guitar as well as Donald Bailey on drums. The three originals, “Some of My Best Friends Are Blues," “The Boss," and “Fingers," are typical of Smith's compositions with organ and guitar conjuring electrified versions of the blues, soul and jazz. The Burt Bacharach tune, “This Guy's In Love With You," comes with more sophistication in its chords ...

George Benson: Irreplaceable

by Brian Soergel
August 2, 2004

The title is ironic now, since this CD was originally to be a collection of all vocal tracks, but the singer/guitarist dropped three songs on the early version and included two songs produced by Paul Brown, “Arizona Sunrise" and “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," the latter of which is quickly climbing the smooth jazz charts. Also added was “Take You Out," an instrumental cover of a Luther Vandross song produced by Rex Rideout and Bud Harner that's also included ...

George Benson: The Other Side Of Abbey Road

by John Ballon
November 2, 2003

I first heard The Other Side Of Abbey Road at a cozy coffee shop in Hollywood, California, early in my jazz discovery days. At the time, I was just recovering from a heavy overdose on the Beatles, having listened to all their post-LSD records almost exclusively for several months. I was ready for something new, and an album of Beatles covers was not exactly what I had in mind. Nevertheless, my curiosity was aroused once George Benson's velvety voice rang ...

Brother Jack McDuff: Prelude

by C. Michael Bailey
October 21, 2003

If you, the gentle listener, were to ever tire of Jimmy Smith following an overdose of the master’s Blue Note catalog, I would direct you to anything by Brother Jack McDuff. A native of Champaign, IL, McDuff cut his teeth with Willis Jackson and Jimmy Forrest and helped a young George Benson get started. McDuff supported Gene Ammons, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, and Hank Crawford with his rock-steady time and spot-on bass-pedaling. Prelude is the re-release of McDuff’s 1964 big ...

Jack McDuff Big Band: Prelude

by David Rickert
October 5, 2003

McDuff was one of the artists able to capitalize on the success of Jimmy Smith, who briefly made organ combos fashionable in the sixties. Prelude is the third in a series of McDuff compilations that comb his prolific Prestige years for the best material. Whereas the first two were split between live and studio recordings, this recent disc covers the tracks recorded with a big band under the leadership of Benny Golson.

This new approach was an ...

George Benson: Bad Benson

by David Rickert
July 11, 2002

Some tunes are so sacred that any attempt to cover them can only result in failure. Yet George Benson makes this mistake twice on Bad Benson ; the band can’t quite manage a groove in 5/4 on Brubeck’s “Take Five” and once again falter with a horrid disco version of Ellington’s “Take The ‘A’ Train” complete with fake train whistles. Creed Taylor should have offered rebates to anyone that could listen to these numbers more than once without wincing. However, ...

Freddie Hubbard: Red Clay

by David Rickert
July 11, 2002

Like Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard's best work was always in the service of others until he signed with Creed Taylor's CTI label. He then released a trio of albums that represents his crowning achievement as a leader. Red Clay finds him in the company of Herbie Hancock, who played a large part in defining jazz fusion, as well as heavyweights like Ron Carter, Joe Henderson, and Lenny White. The title track kicks off the record with a funky ...