GEORGE BENSON'S GUITAR MAN COLLECTORS ORIGINAL 2011 RELEASE TREMENDOUSLY RARE OUT OF PRINT EDITION.

The Legendary George Benson Puts His Mark On Jazz & Pop Standards - On Vinyl LP! 

George Benson brings his instrumental and vocal prowess to the fore once again in his album Guitar Man. The 12-song collection includes a mix of jazz and pop standards - some in a combo setting and some solo, but all of them tied together seamlessly by Benson's soulful and exploratory signature sound. Lending a hand on this recording is a solid team made up of veterans and newcomers alike - pianist Joe Sample, keyboardist and musical director David Garfield, bassist Ben Williams and drummer Harvey Mason (on loan from Fourplay, and a studio collaborator with Benson all the way back to Benson's 1976 blockbuster album, Breezin'). Williams is one of the hottest up-and-coming new artists on the jazz scene.

In a career that spans five decades, more than 30 recordings as a leader and ten Grammy Awards, Benson has used his jazz roots as the foundation for an engaging mix of pop, R&B and other shades that add up to a style that appeals to a broad mainstream audience. Along the way, he has also established himself as a formidable jazz singer - one whose biggest career hits have showcased his vocals. But Guitar Man is just what the title implies - an album that highlights Benson's unparalleled guitar playing, perhaps more than any other album he has released in decades.

For this project, the crew came together in the studio with a minimum of prior rehearsal time but an eagerness to jump in and lay down tracks in something very close to the live experience - what Benson describes as an "old school" approach. The impromptu sensibility comes across in the final product, much of which came together with minimal takes in a single day of recording. The album includes some solo instrumental work. The song list contains some great standards including "Since I Fell For You", "Tequila", "Don't Know Why", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "My Cherie Amour", and more!

Benson's mastery of the guitar is demonstrated in a variety of styles and settings, all with legendary jazz roots. The opening track "Tenderly" is a solo guitar track that serves as a reminder that Benson is one guitar man with sufficient technical and interpretive skills to be a band unto himself. The second song is an intriguing rendition of Lennon and McCartney's "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Along with Benson on nylon-string guitar and Garfield on piano are guitarists Paul Jackson, Jr. and Ray Fuller; bassist Freddie Washington; drummer Oscar Seaton, Jr. (who regularly tours with Benson); violinist Charlie Bisharat; and flutist/clarinetist Dan Higgins. All come together to create a fully orchestrated sound that casts one of the most simplistic of the Beatles' early love ballads into something full-bodied and engaging.

The remainder of the set consists of either solo guitar tracks or Benson backed by the aforementioned five-man team, which lays down an easygoing rendition of Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour". Benson delivers the lyric in his own engaging vocal style that includes a healthy dose of his trademark scatting guitar accompaniment.

"People categorize things because they need to find someplace to put them on their shelf," Benson says. "It's all music to me. I think a lot of pop tunes that were very big in the United States many years ago were recorded by jazz musicians playing in the background. Most of the Motown records were recorded that way. Those guys were jazz musicians who were living in Detroit and were called to do a job, and they did it very well... I try to do the same thing. I try to make it sound like it's natural, because to me it is. There are only two kinds of music, good and bad. There are a lot of things in between, but they're eventually going to fall on one side of the other of that equation."

"Benson plays his heart out, and the result will most certainly be one of the top 10 discs of not just this year, but probably this coming decade." - Jazz Review

Features:
• Vinyl LP
• Mixed by Seth Presant

Musicians:
George Benson, guitar, vocals
Joe Sample, piano
David Garfield, keyboard
Ben Williams, bass
Harvey Mason, drums

Selections:
1. Tenderly
2. I Want To Hold Your Hand
3. My Cherie Amour
4. Naima
5. Tequila
6. Don't Know Why
7. The Lady In My Life
8. My One and Only Love
9. Paper Moon
10. Danny Boy
11. Since I Fell For You
12. Fingerlero

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