![\"George-Benson-Issue-No31\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/George-Benson-Issue-No31.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nBy Jeff Tamarkin<\/b><\/p>\n
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By the early 1970s George Benson was quickly\u00a0gaining recognition as a young hotshot guitarist on the jazz scene. He\u2019d already cut more than a dozen acclaimed instrumental albums and had been tapped by the likes of Miles Davis to lend his six-string chops.<\/p>\n
But Benson wanted to try his hand at singing, testing the waters with a cover of the Beatles\u2019 Abbey Road<\/i>. Although the album was well received, a half-dozen years passed before Benson\u2019s vocals would impact his career. That happened with the release of Breezin\u2019 <\/i>in 1976. Fueled by the Top 10 hit \u201cThis Masquerade\u201d\u2014featuring Benson\u2019s trademark scatting and soulful vocals\u2014Breezin<\/i>\u2019 became the first-ever platinum-selling jazz album, according to the RIAA.<\/p>\n
The following decade would see more smash singles, including \u201cOn Broadway,\u201d \u201cGive Me the Night,\u201d and \u201cTurn Your Love Around,\u201d and sold-out concerts worldwide. \u201cBy the time my records as a vocalist started to get popular, I was not a kid. I was like 33,\u201d says Benson. \u201cAnd that was a great thing. I said to myself, \u2018I can\u2019t let anyone dictate how I\u2019m going to live my life,\u2019 and I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
On his latest album, Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole<\/i>, Benson honors one of his lifelong vocal influences, performing \u201cUnforgettable\u201d (with guest trumpeter Wynton Marsalis), \u201cStraighten Up and Fly Right,\u201d \u201cRoute 66,\u201d and other Cole classics\u2014some featuring recently discovered arrangements by the late Nelson Riddle. The album, produced by John Burk, begins and ends with the timeless ballad \u201cMona Lisa,\u201d the first take recorded when \u201cLil\u2019 Georgie Benson,\u201d as he was then called, was just 8 years old. Even then, he knew his way around a song.<\/p>\n
At 70, Benson has lost none of the flair and skill he\u2019s always brought to the guitar. Still a tireless performer, the 10-time Grammy winner discussed his new project, how he developed his distinctive style, and why he still practices.<\/p>\n
Why a Cole tribute album now?<\/b><\/p>\n
Nat Cole put out all kinds of songs\u2014jazzy songs, novelty tunes, beautiful ballads. They all went over well, and his audience ranged across the board. That really impressed me. I always said, \u201cI want to play for everybody. I don\u2019t want to just play for some people.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Who chose the songs?<\/b><\/p>\n
My producer, John Burk. One thing I\u2019ve learned is to give the other man room to breathe\u2014he might come up with a great idea. It was [producer] Tommy LiPuma who brought me \u201cThis Masquerade.\u201d I asked him, \u201cWhy do you want me to do this song? I don\u2019t know this Leon Russell guy who wrote it.\u201d It was the same thing with \u201cOn Broadway.\u201d Tommy asked if I knew the song and I said, \u201cI know it, but you don\u2019t want me to destroy it, do you?\u201d Tommy made a star out of me with his suggestions. I\u2019ve come to realize there\u2019s value in paying attention to the comments of others.<\/p>\n
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When did you decide to sing?<\/b><\/p>\n
I was actually a singer first. Then I went instrumental and gained my fame through my instrument. Then I went back to singing\u2014to the chagrin of many. It was right after the death of [jazz guitar great] Wes Montgomery. He was so loved, and they wanted somebody to fill his shoes. I said, \u201cThat ain\u2019t me, because there\u2019s only one Wes Montgomery.\u201d He was a very good friend and I learned a lot from him in terms of approaching music. I never got all his concepts down but I loved listening to him go from one thing to another, how he knitted things together so beautifully.<\/p>\n
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Did you ever consider not playing?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
I had a manager who tried to convince me to put the guitar down. I said, \u201cOh no, man. I\u2019ve spent too much time.\u201d That was a controversy that Nat dealt with. Nat\u2019s wife told him, \u201cYou\u2019re the world\u2019s greatest singer\u2014they can\u2019t stop you from singing!\u201d So instead Nat stopped playing piano.<\/p>\n
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What makes a great song?<\/b><\/p>\n
Something with a great story, or something that feels good. Something I don\u2019t have to beef up because it already has those elements. Then I\u2019m not hurting anything. I try to enhance it. It doesn\u2019t always happen but I\u2019m always glad I tried. Later I go back and hear things I didn\u2019t hear when I was recording and I might say, \u201cThat wasn\u2019t a bad effort at all. This album\u2019s\u00a0gonna come alive!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
How did you find your style?<\/b><\/p>\n
Everybody is made up of their experiences. I try to bring everything I\u2019ve learned. But I don\u2019t go to the table with half my arsenal\u2014I bring everything to every gig. I\u2019ve listened to them all\u2014Charlie Christian, Hank Garland, Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, and the baddest cat who\u2019s ever done it, Django Reinhardt. And I hung out with the baddest cat of our time, Wes Montgomery. I had a lot of things I could pick from, and I melded\u00a0them all together.<\/p>\n
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You recorded with producing giant\u00a0<\/b>John Hammond.<\/b><\/p>\n
I had so much respect for John Hammond because he introduced Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman and Count Basie to the world. I used to sit in his office listening to him tell stories about Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen. Once he was leaving Kansas City and heard Count Basie on the radio. He turned around, found the radio station, and paid for him to come to New York. The bandleader that Basie was working for died, so John went to Basie and said, \u201cBill, how\u2019d you like to take over the band?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wasn’t cutting Jefferson Airplane\u2019s \u201cWhite Rabbit\u201d in 1971 an odd choice?<\/b><\/p>\n
I had never heard of it before. I\u2019d never even heard of the group! It sounded so bizarre, as opposed to what I wanted to do. But I have never run away from a challenge. I will try anything, and if it fails, I know not to go that route again. The White Rabbit<\/i> album was very exciting\u2014it was an adventure. I really enjoyed doing that stuff.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
How have you seen music evolve?<\/b><\/p>\n
Music will never die, and it will never settle in one place. Lots of jazz musicians, when they heard the Beatles, said, \u201cAh, that music ain\u2019t going to last.\u201d That\u2019s when I learned my lesson. They said the same thing about Elvis Presley. What are we supposed to do, sit back and wait till it dies? We\u2019ll be dead before their music dies. So I formed a different opinion, and still have that mentality: One guy will come along and bend us in a different direction or add something new. Prince, same thing, he brought something\u00a0new. That kid Michael Jackson turned the world upside down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What guitars do you play?<\/b><\/p>\n
Acoustic and electric F-hole type. Some are full-sized jazz guitars I created for Ibanez. The best-selling model in the history of Ibanez is the GB10\u2014that\u2019s a mid-sized guitar. When I designed it they told me I was going to lose some low end, but I said, \u201cWell, that might be good because most of these instruments play so loud.\u201d My guitar rejects feedback, and it\u2019s one of the world\u2019s greatest road guitars. It\u2019s hard to damage. I\u2019ve done about eight or nine models with the company over the years. I also just signed a deal to design an amp for Fender called the Hot Rod Deluxe.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Any effects?<\/b><\/p>\n
No, I don\u2019t like effects because they take\u00a0away from what I\u2019m going to play. I\u2019m a man who plays a lot of notes so I need to pay attention all the time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Do you still practice?<\/b><\/p>\n
I play every day, even when I\u2019m not working. I practiced this morning. Without even thinking, I grabbed the guitar and tried to look for something I didn\u2019t play yesterday. I always keep one within arm\u2019s length. On the road I get exercise every night because it\u2019s really demanding. But when I\u2019m home I\u2019m playing out of pure joy, and searching for new ideas. That keeps my chops up. If you don\u2019t use something it\u2019s going to clam up on you.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEORGE BENSON\u00a0 How the elite guitarist opened his mouth and changed jazz history\u00a0 By Jeff Tamarkin By the early 1970s George Benson was quickly\u00a0gaining recognition as a young hotshot guitarist on the jazz scene. He\u2019d already cut more than a dozen acclaimed instrumental albums and had been tapped by the likes of Miles Davis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3805],"tags":[7328],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11725"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11727,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11725\/revisions\/11727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}