George Benson Irreplaceable CD

Personnel: George Benson (vocals, electric guitar); Chyna, Nakiea (vocals); Joshua Thompson (acoustic guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, bass instrument, programming); Rex Rideout (keyboards, programming); Herman Jackson, Bobby Douglas (keyboards); Richard Bona (bass instrument, background vocals); Roberto Vally (bass instrument); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion).
A few decades ago, when the release of a George Benson album was an event for either jazz guitar or R&B vocal enthusiasts, his projects indeed lived up to the album title he employs here. While the new collection probably won't be an essential part of the Benson enthusiast's library, it's fun to see him trying to stay in the post-millennial urban groove hip with some of the younger generation's top songwriter/producers like Joshua Thompson (who's produced for O-Town, Aretha Franklin, and Babyface) and Joe. Those who wish he'd remember his prowess as a jazz guitarist have to content themselves with its general background capacity behind pleasant romantic vocal textures and easy grooving hip-hop shuffle grooves. Fortunately, Benson's in particularly fine voice, and most of the hooks are catchy from the get go. Conceptually, the best tunes are "Six Play" (which we soon realize is a love song to his six-string) and "Cell Phone," which postulates the idea that God and our late loved ones are accessible by wireless. There are a few stylistic deviations from the basic cool formula here, most notably the gospel-tinged "Whole Man," and the lush, gently exotic, flamenco-flavored soul tune "Strings of Love." The hope is that Benson's collaborations with the hipsters will expose his legendary talents to the kids who might otherwise shy away from the charms of an elder statesman. ~ Jonathan Widran
In the public eye as a recording artist since the early 1960s, guitarist/vocalist George Benson is arguably the man who injected the "smooth" into smooth jazz. IRREPLACEABLE artfully treads the border between contemporary R&B and smooth jazz, thanks in no small part to producer/songwriter Joshua Paul Thompson. A couple of factors set the more mature Benson's work apart from the pack of teens and twentysomethings crowding the jazz-tinged R&B field. Benson takes his vocal cues from the classic models of Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke, with a healthy dash of Stevie Wonder, leaving the histrionics for others to negotiate at their own risk. But, of course, Benson most clearly puts his mark on the album with his sui generis fretwork. Certainly the tracks groove like great R&B should, but on the tunes "Take You Out," "Missing You," and the standard "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise," Benson's alternately blistering and sensual guitar lines grace the proceedings with a resonating lyricism.Mojo (Publisher) (12/03, p.120) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The best track is the richly harmonious 'Cell Phone'....'Six Play' and 'Whole Man' also impress on an album that will surprise many."