George Benson: Guitar Man on CD
Guitar Man
Conventional CD, playable with all CD players and computer drives, but also with most SACD or multiplayers.
- Label:
- Concord
- Year of recording ca.:
- 2011
- Item number:
- 9762570
- UPC/EAN:
- 0888072330993
- Release date:
- 30.9.2011
Der Titel von George Bensons neuem Album ist Programm. Denn auf Guitar Man stellt der zehnfache Grammy-Gewinner nach langer Zeit endlich mal wieder sein fabelhaftes Gitarrenspiel in den Vordergrund. Zu hören ist Benson mit einem buntgemischten Dutzend aus Jazz- und Popstandards, die er teils mit anderen Musikern, teils vollkommen solo aufnahm. Die Kernband dieses Albums besteht aus Pianist Joe Sample, Keyboarder David Garfield, Bassist Ben Williams und Schlagzeuger Harvey Mason. Der 26-jährige Williams, mit dem Benson hier das erste Mal zusammenarbeitet, gewann 2009 den Bassisten-Wettbewerb des Thelonious Monk Institute und hat unter dem Titel State Of The Art gerade ein phänomenales Debutalbum bei Concord Music herausgebracht.
Die Aufnahmen für dieses Album sollten möglichst in Old School -Manier entstehen: deshalb ging Benson mit seiner Crew ins Studio, ohne vorher gross geprobt zu haben. Er wollte eine Live-Atmosphäre schaffen und seinen Mitmusikern Gelegenheit geben, sich spontan einzubringen.
Product Information
National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master and Grammy-winning legend George Benson brings his guitar to the forefront in his newest album Guitar Man. The 12-song collection includes a mix of jazz and pop standards – some in a combo setting and some solo, but all of them tied together seamlessly by Benson’s soulful and exploratory signature sound. Lending a hand on this recording is a solid team made up of veterans and newcomers alike – pianist Joe Sample, keyboardist and musical director David Garfield, bassist Ben Williams and drummer Harvey Mason. Williams is one of the hottest up-and-coming new artists on the jazz scene. Mason is a regular member of Fourplay, and a studio collaborator with Benson all the way back to Benson’s 1976 blockbuster album, Breezin’.
In a career that spans five decades, more than 30 recordings as a leader and ten Grammy Awards, Benson has used his jazz roots as the foundation for an engaging mix of pop, R&B and other shades that add up to a style that appeals to a broad mainstream audience. Along the way, he has also established himself as a formidable jazz singer – one whose biggest career hits have showcased his vocals. But Guitar Man is just what the title implies – an album that highlights Benson’s unparalleled guitar playing, perhaps more than any other album he has released in decades.
For the new project, the crew came together in the studio with a minimum of prior rehearsal time but an eagerness to jump in and lay down tracks in something very close to the live experience – what Benson describes as an “old school” approach. The impromptu sensibility comes across in the final product, much of which came together with minimal takes in a single day of recording.
“We figured that we would get the best energy if we went into the studio with some live musicians who are savvy and flexible,” says Benson, “and boy, did we accomplish that.”
On Guitar Man, Benson’s mastery of the guitar is demonstrated in a variety of styles and settings, all with legendary jazz roots. The opening track “Tenderly” is a solo guitar track that serves as a reminder that Benson is one guitar man with sufficient technical and interpretive skills to be a band unto himself. The second song is an intriguing rendition of Lennon and McCartney’s “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” Along with Benson on nylon-string guitar and Garfield on piano are guitarists Paul Jackson Jr. and Ray Fuller; bassist Freddie Washington; drummer Oscar Seaton, Jr. (who regularly tours with Benson); violinist Charlie Bisharat; and flutist / clarinetist Dan Higgins. All come together to create a fully orchestrated sound that casts one of the most simplistic of the Beatles’ early love ballads into something full-bodied and engaging.
The remainder of the set consists of either solo guitar tracks or Benson backed by the aforementioned five-man team, which lays down an easygoing rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour.” Benson delivers the lyrics in his own engaging vocal style that includes a healthy dose of his trademark scatting guitar accompaniment.
Other highlights include a rollicking version of the Champs’ 1958 instrumental hit, “Tequila,” followed a couple tracks later by “My One and Only Love,” which opens with a 16-bar solo jazz guitar intro that segues into a sweet vocal ballad. Benson delivers a playful straightahead rendition of “Paper Moon” with the quartet, followed by a solo guitar rendition of “Danny Boy” (one of the few times, if ever, that a guitar sounds like bagpipes). In the final stretch, Benson and Garfield set up a lush guitar-and-piano arrangement of the smoky standard, “Since I Fell For You,” with Benson once again stepping up to the mic for an emotional delivery of the song’s impassioned lyrics.
Benson has never been one to shy away from innovation or experimentation. For this guitar man, putting a jazz spin on pop standards – not just on this recording but throughout his career – is less of a taboo when you’re willing to dispense with labels and the limitations that come with them.
“People categorize things because they need to find someplace to put them on their shelf,” he says. “It’s all music to me. I think a lot of pop tunes that were very big in the United States many years ago were recorded by jazz musicians playing in the background. Most of the Motown records were recorded that way. Those guys were jazz musicians who were living in Detroit and were called to do a job, and they did it very well…I try to do the same thing. I try to make it sound like it’s natural, because to me it is. There are only two kinds of music, good and bad. There are a lot of things in between, but they’re eventually going to fall on one side or the other of that equation.”
(georgebenson. com)
Reviews
,,Easy Listening mit Tiefgang." (Stereoplay, November 2011),,Seine Melodien verführen zum Träumen, sein Gitarrenspiel vermittelt gleichzeitig Kraft und Zärtlichkeit, Eleganz und Direktheit. George Benson bietet erneut perfektes Easy Listening." (Audio, November 2011)
,,Nach dem Intro mit einer brillanten Solodarbietung von ,,Tenderly" knöpft er sich den Beatles-Hit ,,I Want To Hold Your Hand" vor und verzückt danach mit Stevie Wonders ,,My Cherie Amour" Smooth-Jazz-Fans." (Stereo, Dezember 2011)
,,Standards wie “Paper Moon” – amtlich swingend – oder “Since I Fell For You” bekommen Lounge-freundliche, aber stets anspruchsvoll griffige Arrangements. In “Tequila” beweist der 68-Jährige wieder einmal sein ungezügeltes Temperament." (Good Times, Dezember 2011/Januar 2012)
Disk 1 von 1 (CD)
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1 Tenderly
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2 I Want To Hold Your Hand
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3 My Cherie Amour
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4 Naima
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5 Tequila
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6 Don't Know Why
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7 The Lady In My Life
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8 My One And Only Love
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9 Paper Moon
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10 Danny Boy
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11 Since I Fell For You
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12 Fingerlero
