George Benson
Encyclopedia
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award
winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz
guitarist.
Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s playing soul jazz
with the likes of Jack McDuff
. Benson then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B
singing, and scat singing
. This one-time child prodigy
topped the Billboard 200
in 1976 with the triple-platinum
album, Breezin'
, He was also a major live attraction in the UK during the 1980s and continues to attract a large following today. Benson uses a rest-stroke picking technique similar to that of gypsy jazz
players such as Django Reinhardt
.
. At the age of 7, Benson first played the ukulele in a corner drug store for which he was paid a few dollars; at the age of 8, he was playing guitar in an unlicensed nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights which was soon closed down by the police. At the age of 10, George recorded his first single record with RCA-Victor in New York, called 'She Makes Me Mad'.
Benson attended the Schenley High School
, although he left before graduation. As a youth, instead, he learned how to play straight-ahead instrumental jazz during a relationship performing for several years with organ
ist Jack McDuff
. One of his many early guitar heroes was country-jazz guitarist Hank Garland
. At the age of 21, he recorded his first album as leader, The New Boss Guitar, featuring McDuff. Benson's next recording was It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet including Dr Lonnie Smith on organ and Ronnie Cuber
on baritone saxophone
. Benson followed it up with The George Benson Cookbook, also with Lonnie Smith and Ronnie Cuber on baritone and drummer Marion Booker. Miles Davis
employed Benson in the mid 1960s, featuring his guitar on "Paraphernalia" on his 1968 Columbia
release, Miles in the Sky
before going to Verve Records
.
Then, he signed with Creed Taylor's jazz label, CTI Records
, where he recorded several albums, with jazz heavyweights guesting, to some success, mainly in the jazz field. His 1974 release, "Bad Benson" climbed to the top spot in the Billboard jazz chart, while the follow-ups, "Good King Bad" (#51 Pop album) and "Benson and Farrell" (with Joe Farrell) both reached the jazz top three sellers. Benson also did a version of The Beatles
's 1969 album Abbey Road called The Other Side of Abbey Road
, also released in 1969, and a version of "White Rabbit
", originally written and recorded by San Francisco rock group Great Society, and made famous by Jefferson Airplane
. He also played on numerous sessions for other CTI artists during this time, including Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine.
, a whole new audience began to discover Benson for the first time. With the 1976 release Breezin'
, Benson began to put his vocal on tracks such as "This Masquerade
". He had used his vocals infrequently on songs earlier in his career, notably his rendition of "Here Comes the Sun
" on the Other Side of Abbey Road album. Breezin' was a significant album in terms of popular music history - the first jazz release to go Platinum and the first indication that something new was about to happen, He also recorded in this album many instrumentals and notable is his rendition of the 1975 Jose Feliciano
composition "Affirmation". In 1976, Benson toured with soul singer, Minnie Riperton
, who had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer earlier that year. Also in 1976, George Benson apperared as a guitarist and backup vocalist on Stevie Wonder's song "Another Star" from Wonder's album Songs in the Key of Life. "This Masquerade" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year
and the live take of "On Broadway", recorded two years later from the 1978 release Weekend in L.A., also won a Grammy. He has worked with Freddie Hubbard on a number of his albums throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s. In 1987, at the J.V.C. Newport Jazz Festival, Benson played his heart out - it was a performance to remember, alongside the heavyweight lineup such as Michael Brecker, Dianne Reeves and Branford Marsalis
. The opening act was an unknown to some: The Gary Pearson Ensemble, which featured Gary Pearson (Guitar/Vocal) and Ruben Riera (Flautist/Percussion). 'It was a musician's dream to be part of that high-energy lineup - unforgettable,' Ruben Riera said.
The first recipient of this stellar team effort was Benson, and the Qwest label's first official release was Benson's breakthrough pop album Give Me The Night. Benson made it into the pop and R&B top ten with the song "Give Me the Night" (produced by Quincy Jones
and written by former Heatwave keyboardist Rod Temperton
) having previously been almost unknown to the younger audience. More importantly, Quincy Jones encouraged Benson to search his roots for further vocal inspiration and he re-discovered his love for Nat Cole, Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway in the process influencing a string of further vocal albums into the '90s. Despite returning to his jazz and guitar playing most recently, this theme was reflected again much later in Benson's 2000 release Absolute Benson featuring a cover of one of Hathaway's most notable songs, The Ghetto. Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold albums. He also recorded the original version of "Greatest Love of All
" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali
bio-pic, The Greatest, which was later recorded as a cover by Whitney Houston
. During this time Benson recorded with the German conductor, Claus Ogerman
.
went on the smooth jazz
charts with their collaboration "Sunrise", one of two songs from the duo released on Atkins' disc Stay Tuned
. In 1992, Benson appeared on Jack McDuff
's Colour Me Blue album. Benson toured with Al Jarreau
in America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to promote their 2006 album Givin' It Up. He played during the second Monsoon Cup in Terengganu
in 2006 and also Malaysia's 50th Merdeka celebration alongside Jarreau in 2007. In May 2008, for the first time Benson took part in Mawazine Festival in Morocco
.
To commemorate the long term relationship between Benson and Ibanez
and to celebrate 30 years of collaboration on the GB Signature Models, Ibanez created the GB30TH, a very limited edition model featuring a gold foil finish inspired by the traditional Japanese Garahaku art form. In 2009, Benson was recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as a Jazz Master, the nations highest honor in Jazz. Benson performed at the 49th issue of The Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia on July 25, 2009, and his tribute show to Nat King Cole "An Unforgettable Tribute to Nat King Cole" as part of the Istanbul International Jazz Festival in Turkey on July 27. In the fall of 2009, Benson finished recording a new album titled Songs and Stories, with Marcus Miller, producer John Burk, and session musicians David Paich
and Steve Lukather
. As a part of the promotion for his recent Concord Music Group/Monster Music release Songs and Stories, Benson has appeared and/or performed on The Tavis Smiley Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Benson has toured throughout 2010 in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim, including an appearance at the Singapore Sun Festival
.
He performed at the Java Jazz Festival March 4–6, 2011.
CD titled "Johnnie Lee" in her honor.
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitarist.
Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s playing soul jazz
Soul jazz
Soul jazz is a development of jazz incorporating strong influences from blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups, often an organ trio featuring a Hammond organ.- Overview :Soul jazz is often associated with hard bop. Mark C...
with the likes of Jack McDuff
Jack McDuff
"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...
. Benson then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
singing, and scat singing
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
. This one-time child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
topped the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
in 1976 with the triple-platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
album, Breezin'
Breezin'
Breezin' is an album by jazz/soul guitarist George Benson.The album marked the beginning of Benson's most successful period commercially. Breezin topped the Pop, Jazz and R&B album charts in Billboard and spun off two hit singles, the title song and "This Masquerade," which was a top ten pop and...
, He was also a major live attraction in the UK during the 1980s and continues to attract a large following today. Benson uses a rest-stroke picking technique similar to that of gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
players such as Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
.
Early career
Benson was born and raised in the Hill District in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. At the age of 7, Benson first played the ukulele in a corner drug store for which he was paid a few dollars; at the age of 8, he was playing guitar in an unlicensed nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights which was soon closed down by the police. At the age of 10, George recorded his first single record with RCA-Victor in New York, called 'She Makes Me Mad'.
Benson attended the Schenley High School
Schenley High School
Schenley High School is both a public school building and a school program that closed with the graduating class of 2011. Schenley High School is located in the North Oakland neighborhood at the edge of the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. In 2008 the school's staff and...
, although he left before graduation. As a youth, instead, he learned how to play straight-ahead instrumental jazz during a relationship performing for several years with organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
ist Jack McDuff
Jack McDuff
"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...
. One of his many early guitar heroes was country-jazz guitarist Hank Garland
Hank Garland
Walter Louis Garland , better known as Hank Garland, was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and many others.-Biography:...
. At the age of 21, he recorded his first album as leader, The New Boss Guitar, featuring McDuff. Benson's next recording was It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet including Dr Lonnie Smith on organ and Ronnie Cuber
Ronnie Cuber
Ronnie Cuber is a jazz saxophonist. He has also played in Latin, pop, rock and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he has also played tenor sax, soprano sax and flute, the latter on an album by Eddie Palmieri. As a leader, Cuber is known for hard bop and Latin jazz...
on baritone saxophone
Baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
. Benson followed it up with The George Benson Cookbook, also with Lonnie Smith and Ronnie Cuber on baritone and drummer Marion Booker. Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
employed Benson in the mid 1960s, featuring his guitar on "Paraphernalia" on his 1968 Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
release, Miles in the Sky
Miles in the Sky (album)
Miles in the Sky is an album recorded in January and two dates in May 1968. It is the fifth and final album fully made by the Miles Davis second great quintet, for by the time of Filles de Kilimanjaro, the quintet was beginning to dissolve, with Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock being replaced on two...
before going to Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
.
Then, he signed with Creed Taylor's jazz label, CTI Records
CTI Records
CTI Records was a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, but the label went independent in 1970...
, where he recorded several albums, with jazz heavyweights guesting, to some success, mainly in the jazz field. His 1974 release, "Bad Benson" climbed to the top spot in the Billboard jazz chart, while the follow-ups, "Good King Bad" (#51 Pop album) and "Benson and Farrell" (with Joe Farrell) both reached the jazz top three sellers. Benson also did a version of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
's 1969 album Abbey Road called The Other Side of Abbey Road
The Other Side of Abbey Road
The Other Side of Abbey Road is a 1970 studio album by American guitarist George Benson of songs from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road....
, also released in 1969, and a version of "White Rabbit
White Rabbit (song)
"White Rabbit" is a song from Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It was released as a single and became the band's second top ten success, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100...
", originally written and recorded by San Francisco rock group Great Society, and made famous by Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
. He also played on numerous sessions for other CTI artists during this time, including Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine.
1970s and 1980s
By the mid to late 1970s, as he recorded for Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, a whole new audience began to discover Benson for the first time. With the 1976 release Breezin'
Breezin'
Breezin' is an album by jazz/soul guitarist George Benson.The album marked the beginning of Benson's most successful period commercially. Breezin topped the Pop, Jazz and R&B album charts in Billboard and spun off two hit singles, the title song and "This Masquerade," which was a top ten pop and...
, Benson began to put his vocal on tracks such as "This Masquerade
This Masquerade
"This Masquerade" is a song written by Leon Russell. The song appeared on the B-side of the single for Russell's 1972 hit "Tight Rope."The song has also been recorded by many other artists. Helen Reddy included it on her 1972 I am Woman album, and also included a live version on her 1978 Live in...
". He had used his vocals infrequently on songs earlier in his career, notably his rendition of "Here Comes the Sun
Here Comes the Sun
"Here Comes the Sun" is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. It is regarded as one of the most popular Beatles songs. The song was written while Harrison was away from all of these troubles...
" on the Other Side of Abbey Road album. Breezin' was a significant album in terms of popular music history - the first jazz release to go Platinum and the first indication that something new was about to happen, He also recorded in this album many instrumentals and notable is his rendition of the 1975 Jose Feliciano
José Feliciano
José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...
composition "Affirmation". In 1976, Benson toured with soul singer, Minnie Riperton
Minnie Riperton
Minnie Julia Riperton was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You". She was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph from 1972 until her death in the summer of 1979. They had two children - music engineer Marc Rudolph and actress/comedienne Maya...
, who had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer earlier that year. Also in 1976, George Benson apperared as a guitarist and backup vocalist on Stevie Wonder's song "Another Star" from Wonder's album Songs in the Key of Life. "This Masquerade" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
and the live take of "On Broadway", recorded two years later from the 1978 release Weekend in L.A., also won a Grammy. He has worked with Freddie Hubbard on a number of his albums throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s. In 1987, at the J.V.C. Newport Jazz Festival, Benson played his heart out - it was a performance to remember, alongside the heavyweight lineup such as Michael Brecker, Dianne Reeves and Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
. The opening act was an unknown to some: The Gary Pearson Ensemble, which featured Gary Pearson (Guitar/Vocal) and Ruben Riera (Flautist/Percussion). 'It was a musician's dream to be part of that high-energy lineup - unforgettable,' Ruben Riera said.
The first recipient of this stellar team effort was Benson, and the Qwest label's first official release was Benson's breakthrough pop album Give Me The Night. Benson made it into the pop and R&B top ten with the song "Give Me the Night" (produced by Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
and written by former Heatwave keyboardist Rod Temperton
Rod Temperton
Rodney Lynn "Rod" Temperton is an English songwriter, record producer and musician most famous for writing a number of songs performed by Michael Jackson, including the title track of Jackson's Thriller, the biggest-selling album of all time.-Biography:As Temperton remembers music was in his bones...
) having previously been almost unknown to the younger audience. More importantly, Quincy Jones encouraged Benson to search his roots for further vocal inspiration and he re-discovered his love for Nat Cole, Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway in the process influencing a string of further vocal albums into the '90s. Despite returning to his jazz and guitar playing most recently, this theme was reflected again much later in Benson's 2000 release Absolute Benson featuring a cover of one of Hathaway's most notable songs, The Ghetto. Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold albums. He also recorded the original version of "Greatest Love of All
Greatest Love of All
"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer...
" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
bio-pic, The Greatest, which was later recorded as a cover by Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
. During this time Benson recorded with the German conductor, Claus Ogerman
Claus Ogerman
Claus Ogerman is a German musical arranger/ orchestrator, conductor, and composer, best known for his works with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra and Diana Krall.-Life and work:...
.
Later and current career
In 1985 Benson and guitarist Chet AtkinsChet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
went on the smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
charts with their collaboration "Sunrise", one of two songs from the duo released on Atkins' disc Stay Tuned
Stay Tuned (Chet Atkins album)
Stay Tuned is an album by Chet Atkins on his new label Columbia after recording for RCA since the 50's. Chester's guests include Larry Carlton, George Benson, Mark Knopfler, Steve Lukather, Earl Klugh, Boots Randolph, David Hungate, Dean Parks and Mark O'Connor."Cosmic Square Dance" won the 1985...
. In 1992, Benson appeared on Jack McDuff
Jack McDuff
"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...
's Colour Me Blue album. Benson toured with Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
in America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to promote their 2006 album Givin' It Up. He played during the second Monsoon Cup in Terengganu
Terengganu
Terengganu is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Iman...
in 2006 and also Malaysia's 50th Merdeka celebration alongside Jarreau in 2007. In May 2008, for the first time Benson took part in Mawazine Festival in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
To commemorate the long term relationship between Benson and Ibanez
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass produce...
and to celebrate 30 years of collaboration on the GB Signature Models, Ibanez created the GB30TH, a very limited edition model featuring a gold foil finish inspired by the traditional Japanese Garahaku art form. In 2009, Benson was recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as a Jazz Master, the nations highest honor in Jazz. Benson performed at the 49th issue of The Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia on July 25, 2009, and his tribute show to Nat King Cole "An Unforgettable Tribute to Nat King Cole" as part of the Istanbul International Jazz Festival in Turkey on July 27. In the fall of 2009, Benson finished recording a new album titled Songs and Stories, with Marcus Miller, producer John Burk, and session musicians David Paich
David Paich
David Frank Paich is a session musician, keyboard player, recording producer, arranger, vocalist and main composer of the Los Angeles-based rock/pop band Toto. David is the son of the late jazz composer, musician, and arranger Marty Paich...
and Steve Lukather
Steve Lukather
Steve "Luke" Lukather is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer best known for his work with the rock band Toto. Lukather has played with many artists, released several solo albums, and worked as a composer, arranger, and session guitarist on more than 1,500 albums...
. As a part of the promotion for his recent Concord Music Group/Monster Music release Songs and Stories, Benson has appeared and/or performed on The Tavis Smiley Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Benson has toured throughout 2010 in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim, including an appearance at the Singapore Sun Festival
Singapore sun festival
The Singapore Sun Festival is an annual music and life-style festival that runs over ten days and takes place in multiple venues across Singapore...
.
He performed at the Java Jazz Festival March 4–6, 2011.
Personal life
George and his wife Johnnie have been married since 1965. George recorded a song on his That's RightThat's Right (album)
That's Right is the twenty ninth studio album by the American jazz/soul guitarist George Benson. It was released on CD in 1996 through GRP Records. It was the first album released on GRP Records...
CD titled "Johnnie Lee" in her honor.
List of George Benson's main releases by genre
| Rel. | Title | Rec. | Genre & Style |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | The New Boss Guitar of George Benson (with The Brother Jack McDuff Jack McDuff "Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:... Quartet) |
1964 | Bebop Bebop Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers... |
| 1966 | It's Uptown | 1966 | Hard bop Hard bop Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano... |
| 1966 | The George Benson Cookbook The George Benson Cookbook The George Benson Cookbook is the third album by jazz/soul guitarist George Benson to be produced by John Hammond.-Description:The Hard Bop Homepage says of the album, "This is basically the George Benson quartet, with Smith and Cuber, but trombonist Bennie Green and percussionist Pucho were added... |
1966 | Hard bop |
| 1968 | Giblet Gravy | 1968 | Jazz-pop, Crossover |
| 1968 | Shape of Things to Come Shape of Things to Come (George Benson album) Shape of Things to Come is a 1969 studio album by American guitarist George Benson, arranged by Don Sebesky.-Track listing:# "Footin' It" – 4:23# "Face It Boy, It's Over" – 4:05... |
1968 | Jazz-pop, Crossover |
| 1968 | Goodies | 1968 | Jazz-pop, Crossover |
| 1969 | Tell It Like It Is | 1969 | Jazz-pop, Crossover |
| 1970 | The Other Side of Abbey Road The Other Side of Abbey Road The Other Side of Abbey Road is a 1970 studio album by American guitarist George Benson of songs from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road.... |
1969 | Jazz-pop, Crossover |
| 1971 | Beyond the Blue Horizon Beyond the Blue Horizon Beyond the Blue Horizon is a 1971 studio album by American guitarist George Benson, released by CTI Records.- Track listing :# "So What" – 9:15# "The Gentle Rain" – 9:09... |
1971 | Soul jazz |
| 1971 | White Rabbit | 1971 | Jazz-pop, Crossover |
| 1973 | Body Talk Body Talk (George Benson album) Body Talk is a 1973 studio album by American guitarist George Benson, released on CTI Records.-Track listing:# "Dance" - 10:31# "When Love Has Grown" - 5:03# "Plum" - 5:31... |
1973 | Jazz-pop, Crossover |
| 1974 | Bad Benson Bad Benson Bad Benson is a 1974 studio album by American guitarist George Benson, released on CTI Records.-Track listing:# "Take Five" - 7:08# "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" - 2:56... |
1974 | Jazz-funk |
| 1975 | In Concert-Carnegie Hall (Live) | 1975 | Jazz-pop, Crossover |
| 1975 | Supership (Single) | 1975 | Soul Soul music Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of... |
| 1976 | Good King Bad | 1975 | Jazz-funk |
| 1976 | Benson & Farrell (with Joe Farrell Joe Farrell Joseph Carl Firrantello , known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:Farrell was born in Chicago... ) |
1976 | Fusion |
| 1976 | Breezin' Breezin' Breezin' is an album by jazz/soul guitarist George Benson.The album marked the beginning of Benson's most successful period commercially. Breezin topped the Pop, Jazz and R&B album charts in Billboard and spun off two hit singles, the title song and "This Masquerade," which was a top ten pop and... |
1976 | Smooth jazz Smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles .... |
| 1976 | Benson Burner (Compilation) | 1966 | Hard bop |
| 1976 | Blue Benson (Compilation) | 1968 | Fusion |
| 1977 | In Flight In Flight (George Benson album) -Personnel:*George Benson - Lead Guitar & Vocals*Phil Upchurch - Rhythm Guitar*Ronnie Foster - Electric Piano & Mini Moog*Jorge Dalto - Clavinet & Acoustic Piano*Stanley Banks - Bass*Harvey Mason - Drums*Ralph MacDonald - Percussion... |
1976 | Smooth jazz |
| 1977 | Weekend in L.A. (Live) | 1977 | Smooth jazz |
| 1978 | Space (Live) | 1975 | Fusion |
| 1979 | Livin' Inside Your Love Livin' Inside Your Love Livin' Inside Your Love is a double-LP by jazz musician George Benson, which was released in 1979. It was certified Gold by the RIAA.-Side A:# "Livin' Inside Your Love" – 6:37# "Hey Girl" – 4:31... |
1979 | Smooth jazz |
| 1980 | Give Me the Night | 1980 | Pop Pop music Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop... , Smooth jazz |
| 1983 | In Your Eyes | 1983 | Pop |
| 1983 | Pacific Fire | 1975 | Fusion |
| 1984 | I Got a Woman and Some Blues | 1969 | Fusion |
| 1984 | 20/20 | 1984 | Pop |
| 1986 | While the City Sleeps... | 1986 | Pop |
| 1987 | Collaboration (with Earl Klugh Earl Klugh Earl Klugh is an American smooth jazz/crossover jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and composer.At the age of 13, Klugh was captivated by the guitar playing of Chet Atkins when Atkins made an appearance on the Perry Como Show. Klugh was a performing guest on several of Atkins' albums... ) |
1987 | Smooth jazz |
| 1988 | Twice the Love | 1988 | Pop |
| 1989 | Tenderly | 1989 | Fusion |
| 1989 | Round Midnight (Live) (with The McCoy Tyner McCoy Tyner McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:... Trio) |
1989 | Fusion |
| 1990 | Big Boss Band (with the Count Basie Orchestra Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella... ) |
1990 | Big band Big band A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians... |
| 1993 | Love Remembers | 1993 | Smooth jazz |
| 1996 | That's Right That's Right (album) That's Right is the twenty ninth studio album by the American jazz/soul guitarist George Benson. It was released on CD in 1996 through GRP Records. It was the first album released on GRP Records... |
1996 | Smooth jazz |
| 1998 | Standing Together | 1998 | Smooth jazz |
| 2000 | Absolute Benson | 2000 | Fusion |
| 2003 | Irreplaceable | 2003 | R&B Rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a... |
| 2004 | Irreplaceable (2004 Version) | 2003 | Smooth jazz, R&B |
| 2006 | Givin' It Up (with Al Jarreau Al Jarreau Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and... ) |
2006 | Smooth jazz, Fusion |
| 2009 | Songs and Stories | 2009 | Smooth jazz |
| 2011 | Guitar Man Guitar Man (George Benson album) Guitar Man is the studio album of George Benson. The album was released by Concord Jazz on October 4, 2011-Track listing:-Personnel:*George Benson - Guitar, Vocals*David Garfield - Piano, Keyboards... |
2011 | Fusion, Smooth jazz |
External links
- Tour dates
- George Benson Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards
- George Benson
- "Twelve Essential George Benson Recordings" by Bobby Broom (Jazz.com)
- George Benson Guitar Tabs
- George Benson 2006 Interview with Al Jarreau on Sidewalks EntertainmentSidewalks EntertainmentSidewalks Entertainment is a long-running, weekly American television series that is a combination of a talk show, magazine show and variety show featuring celebrity interviews, music, artistic and novelty acts, and rising performers...
- Interview with George Benson Recorded by NPR's KJZZ
- YourSingapore - Singapore Sun Festival