George Benson Breezin' CD

Personnel: George Benson (vocals, guitar); Jorge Dalto (acoustic & electric pianos, Clavinet); Ronnie Foster (electric piano, Minimoog synthesizer); Phil Upchurch (guitar, bass); Stanley Banks (bass); Harvey Mason (drums); Ralph MacDonald (percussion).
Producer: Tommy LiPuma.
Reissue producers: David McLees, Patrick Milligan.
Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California from January 6-8, 1976. Includes liner notes by Al Young and A. Scott Galloway.
Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot.
Personnel: George Benson (vocals, guitar); Jorge Dalto (acoustic & electric pianos, Clavinet); Ronnie Foster (electric piano, Minimoog synthesizer); Phil Upchurch (guitar, bass); Stanley Banks (bass); Harvey Mason (drums); Ralph MacDonald (percussion).
Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California from January 6-8, 1976. Includes liner notes by Al Young.
All of a sudden, George Benson became a pop superstar with this album, thanks to its least representative track. Most of Breezin' is a softer-focused variation of Benson's R&B/jazz-flavored CTI work, his guitar as assured and fluid as ever with Claus Ogerman providing the suave orchestral backdrops and his crack then-working band (including Ronnie Foster on keyboards and sparkplug Phil Upchurch on rhythm guitar) pumping up the funk element. Yet it is the sole vocal track (his first in many years), Leon Russell's "This Masquerade" -- where George unveiled his new trademark, scatting along with a single-string guitar solo -- that reached number ten on the pop singles chart and drove the album all the way to number one on the pop (!) LP chart. The attractive title track also became a minor hit single, although Gabor Szabo's 1971 recording with composer Bobby Womack is even more fetching. In the greater scheme of Benson's career, Breezin' is really not so much a breakthrough as it is a transition album; the guitar is still the core of his identity. ~ Richard S. Ginell
Benson earned his reputation as a superior jazz guitarist through his partnership with soul/jazz organist Brother Jack McDuff. Several solo albums for the CTI label ensued before a switch to the giant Warner Brothers resulted in extraordinary chart success with this release. Benson's remake of the title track, originally a hit for fellow guitarist Gabor Szabo, set the tone for the entire set wherein mellifluous funk underscores the artist's sweet voice and soft-touch technique. Like Nat 'King' Cole before him, Benson left jazz to court a wider audience and with Breezin' he did so with considerable aplomb.
Benson earned his reputation as a superior jazz guitarist through his partnership with soul/jazz organist Brother Jack McDuff. Several solo albums for the CTI label ensued before a switch to the giant Warner Brothers resulted in extraordinary chart success with this release. Benson's remake of the title track, originally a hit for fellow guitarist Gabor Szabo, set the tone for the entire set wherein mellifluous funk underscores the artist's sweet voice and soft-touch technique. Like Nat 'King' Cole before him, Benson left jazz to court a wider audience and with Breezin' he did so with considerable aplomb.
George Benson first earned his reputation as a superior jazz guitarist through his partnership with soul/jazz organist Brother Jack McDuff. Several solo albums for the CTI label ensued before a switch to the giant Warner Brothers resulted in extraordinary chart success with this release. Benson's remake of the title track, originally a hit for fellow guitarist Gabor Szabo, set the tone for the entire set, wherein mellifluous funk underscores the artist's sweet voice and soft-touch technique. Like Nat "King" Cole before him, Benson left jazz (though not completely) to court a wider audience, and on BREEZIN' he did so with considerable aplomb.Q (5/01, p.129) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...The biggest-selling album in jazz history....compelling electric guitar improvisation..."