Return of the Guitar Man - The New York City Jazz Record

ON THE COVER
GEORGE BENSON
Return of the Guitar Man
by Bill Milkowski
While individual tastes among players and six-string
aficionados may vary, they can all agree on one
indisputable fact: that George Benson is one of the
baddest guitar players on the planet. Just ask Benson
disciples like Russell Malone and Mark Whitfield or
the hordes of other accomplished plectrists - name
players and newcomers alike - who stand in awe of the
Pittsburgh native’s mindboggling fretboard abilities.
At this point in his illustrious career, the 68-yearold
10-time Grammy winner has nothing to prove with
regards to his six-string prowess. He floored the music
world when he came charging out of the gate with
such sizzling six-string bravado on early albums like
1964’s The New Boss Guitar of George Benson and 1966’s
The George Benson Cookbook. And he continued carrying
Wes Montgomery’s mantle into the ‘70s with a string of
potent CTI offerings like 1973’s Beyond the Blue Horizon.
Skeptics cried ‘sell-out’ when Benson’s 1976
Warner Bros. debut, Breezin’, went multi-platinum on
the strength of his soothing vocal rendition of Leon
Russell’s “This Masquerade”. But this was really
nothing new. Benson had been singing all his life and,
in fact, cut his first vocal (“She Makes Me Mad”) as a
10-year-old prodigy growing up in Pittsburgh’s Hill
District. Even on It’s Uptown, regarded by jazz purists
as ‘the real deal’, he’s singing on jazz standards like
“Summertime”, “A Foggy Day” and “Stormy Weather”
while burning on instrumentals like “Willow Weep for
Me” and his own “Clockwise”. So the precedent for
singing as well as playing had been set long before
Warner Bros. producer Tommy LiPuma came along.
The criticism of Benson’s musical direction became
harsh during the ‘80s when he literally left his axe on
his guitar stand in order to stroll the stage with a mic.
But during this decidedly commercial period in his
career, Benson could also frequently be seen sitting in
at New York clubs like Smoke and Blue Note, keeping
his chops up in the presence of the cognoscenti.
Benson redeemed himself with jazz purists on
1989’s Tenderly and 1990’s Big Boss Band (recorded with
the Count Basie Orchestra). 2000’s Absolute Benson was
a nice balance of playing and singing while 2004’s
Irreplaceable was a blatant stab at commercialism,
typified by the ultra-modern pop production on “Cell
Phone”. He took aim once again at the contempo R&Bpop
market on 2009’s Songs and Stories.
Now comes Guitar Man, which showcases Benson’s
unparalleled six-string work and remarkably soulful
vocal abilities on a balanced program of jazz and pop
classics, interpreted his way. Accompanied by pianist
Joe Sample, rising upright bass star Ben Williams,
drummer Harvey Mason (who played on Breezin’) and
musical director David Garfield, Benson puts his stamp
on a straightahead quartet version of “Paper Moon”, a
lush interpretation of the Beatles “I Want to Hold Your
Hand” full of fretboard fusillades and a deft cover of
“Don’t Know Why”, Norah Jones’ diamond-selling (20
million) hit from 2003.
Says Benson about those familiar ditties, “I was
originally thinking about doing ‘Paper Moon’ with a
vocal as a tribute to Nat Cole. But as we started playing
it and Joe Sample started playing like Jelly Roll Morton
I thought, ‘You know what? This is an instrumental.
Leave it alone.’ So we did that and everybody loves it.
As far as the Beatles tune, I play that every day when I
rehearse by myself. I actually have a rock version of it
that I could play by myself as a solo piece and I plan to
use that in concert, just to let people know that I do
know that version. So I’ll open up with that rock
version and then say, ‘Now here’s the way jazz people
approach that same tune.’ I thought that would be very
interesting. Same way with Norah Jones’ tune. I play
that a lot when I’m at home by myself. One day I
played it for [Concord Records Producer] John Burk
and he said, ‘Man, let’s put that on the record. People
love that song.’ And they do.”
Elsewhere on Guitar Man, he offers a poignant
reading of the romantic ballad forever associated with
Johnny Hartman, “My One and Only Love”, turns in a
soothing version of Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie
Amour” replete with Benson’s signature scat-and-play
unison flights and romps with Latin-flavored fashion
on The Champs’ 1958 instrumental hit “Tequila”
(which Montgomery had also covered in 1966). For a
change of pace there’s a revealing piano-voice rendition
of “Since I Fell For You”, accompanied only by Garfield.
Says Benson of that romantic nugget, “That was
originally a blues tune written and recorded in the ‘40s
by Buddy Johnson. But my favorite version was by
Lenny Watson [in 1963]. He turned it into a very
romantic song, took all the blue notes out of it. And
because it was so beautifully done, I don’t think you
could improve on it. So what we did is…we left it
naked. On Lenny’s version it’s got one of the most
beautiful string arrangements I’ve ever heard... So I
decided to use some of his phrasing and choice of notes
to bring back some good memories of that tune, but in
that stripped-down setting that we did it in.”
Most surprising of all - and the thing that will
probably merit most attention from guitar aficionados
- is the presence of three virtuosic solo guitar pieces
included here. “The producer, John Burk and I have
been working together for the last couple of years and
in other sessions he had heard me play these solo
things in between songs that we were trying to fix up.
And at some point he said, ‘Man, this stuff should be
on record. George, why don’t you do some solo pieces
on the next record?’ And I’d say, ‘Well, they’re not
ready yet.’ That’s always my excuse and it ain’t never
gonna be ready if you leave it up to the musician
because he’s always going to be critical. I’m my worst
critic. But finally John said, ‘Put something down to
see if there’s anything you like. If you like it, we’ll put
it out.’ So I recorded a few things and it wasn’t perfect
but I liked what I heard.”
Benson opens Guitar Man with an unaccompanied
take on “Tenderly”. It’s a jaw-dropping display of
masterful chord melody playing that confirms his
sheer ‘badness’ right upfront. “I’ve always loved
Johnny Smith’s version of ‘Tenderly’ and thought it
was the definitive instrumental version of that tune.
Wes also loved that version. We used to talk about
Johnny Smith all the time. One time I was playing that
song and didn’t know that Johnny Smith was in the
audience. And I was using some of his approaches to
chord changes and harmony in my version. And when
he came backstage, man, I almost fell out when I saw
him. And he told me, ‘George, I loved every moment of
it.’ So now I had a new friend in the guitar world…one
of my great heroes, Johnny Smith. And I think he’s still
a hero of a lot of guitar players.”
He also turns in a soulful and intimate treatment
of John Coltrane’s “Naima” (before the quartet enters
at the 1:30 mark) and a stunning solo guitar rendition
of the Irish traditional number “Danny Boy”, which
has him engaging in some Celtic-styled pull-offs and
drones as a way of imitating the bagpipes. “I always
loved the sound of bagpipes. ...I love that very folksy
sound and always wondered how I could get that on
the guitar. So I noticed that they did a thing that’s like
double stops on the violin. So I started experimenting
with double stops and getting a drone underneath to
create that eerie vibe that only comes from bagpipes.”
Benson kept things loose throughout the Guitar
Man sessions, bringing in head arrangements on the
tunes and letting the pieces develop organically.
“Putting stuff together is something I learned from
Brother Jack McDuff,” he says, referring to his mentor,
the late Hammond B-3 organist whom he played with
from 1962-65. “This whole session was done old school.
It just happened off the cuff. We didn’t have a lot of
rehearsal time so we just figured that we would get the
best energy if we went into the studio with some live
musicians who are savvy and flexible. And I knew that
I was in good shape when I had Harvey Mason and Joe
Sample on the date. ...And the bass player, Ben
Williams, kept knocking me out, man.... So I noticed
right away that we had cohesion between all of us and
we just kept things rolling. We did a double session
that day. It was like a throwback to the way we used to
do in the old days at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio.”
Benson played just two guitars throughout the
Guitar Man session, relying on his prized D’Angelico
jazz box and also playing a nylon string acoustic guitar
on a few pieces for a different tone. “One is worth
$150,000 and the other cost $500,” he laughs. “So it just
goes to show you, man. I come from the old school - I
make due with what I got.” v
For more information, visit georgebenson.com. Benson is at
Town Hall Oct. 21st. See Calendar.
Recommended Listening:
• George Benson - The New Boss Guitar of George
Benson (Prestige, 1964)
• George Benson - The George Benson Cookbook
(Columbia-Legacy, 1966)
• George Benson - Beyond the Blue Horizon
(CTI-Columbia, 1971)
• George Benson - In Concert - Carnegie Hall
(CTI-Columbia, 1975)
• George Benson - Big Boss Band (Warner Bros., 1989)
• George Benson - Guitar Man (Concord, 2011)
THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | October 2011 9
Photo by Marco Glaviano