George Benson has long been regarded as the finest guitar player of his generation, as proficient as Wes Montgomery, as diverse as Howard Roberts, and possessed with the unique ability to fuse jazz and pop without compromising either. The fact that the depth and texture of his vocals are as eloquent and as moving as his unparalleled guitar playing makes him unique in the jazz fusion field. However, the last decade or so of his recording career has been unsatisfying for the most part. With his new release, Guitar Man, George Benson demonstrates he has found once again the formula that produced Breezin’, the biggest-selling jazz album in history.
George’s penchant for experimenting with standards is in full flight on this new release. His impassioned vocal on “Since I Fell For You’, with its shimmering piano, up-front delivery of one of the finest lyrics ever written, and restrained guitar punctuation make this one of the standout tracks on the albums. Benson dares to wait until the final few seconds of the number before he brings out his guitar for a brief but memorable statement; in fact, it’s Joe Sample’s delicious piano work and Benson’s vocal that drive the tune. This, on an album dedicated to the guitar.
And as for Benson’s take on “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, he recreates the song on nylon-string guitar, rendering a quite ordinary rock song into something delicate and masterful. Would Lennon and McCartney have recognized this intriguing version? – probably not. Unless, they’ve spent some time that is with Benson’s 1970 exploration in The Other Side of Abbey Road where he brilliantly stood their compositions on their head, much the same as he did with his unheralded masterpiece “California Dreaming”, recorded on the classic White Rabbit album back in the early ’70s.
He performs the same magic on Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour”, reminding us that in addition to Stevie’s funked-out keyboard genius he was also one of the great writers of romantic pop songs ever.
The highlight of Guitar Man, though, is the astounding eloquence and pristine recording of his fretwork: Benson not only runs the scales like no one else, he does so with some of the warmest and most swinging guitar sounds ever recorded. His gift for interpretation matches that of his technique and nowhere are his gifts more in evidence than on “Lady In My Life”: one listen will convince you this is a Must Have recording.
Here are a few words from the master himself on the diversity of his musical interests, quoted from ejazznews.com:
“People categorize things because they need to find someplace to put them on their shelf. 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.”
