| The Essential George Benson | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | March 28, 2006 | |||
| Recorded | June 5, 1963 - August 11, 1980 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 2:27:38 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
| |||
| George Benson chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Essential George Benson is a compilation album by American jazz musician George Benson, released in 2006 as a double-disc, 21-track career-spanning anthology. [1] It is part of Sony BMG's Essential series of compilation albums.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| PopMatters |   [3] |
Jazz Times refers to the album as "an extraordinary musician by any standard, Benson comes close to redeeming some horribly dated CTI material, including 'White Rabbit', a landmark in schlock. There are also highlights from other key players-don’t miss Kenny Barron’s Rhodes solo on the 1974 Don Sebesky arrangement of 'Take Five.' Write off the R&B tracks if you must, but they’re flawlessly realized. 'This Masquerade' is a model of pure, economical soul singing. 'On Broadway' appears in a 10-minute live version." [4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Originally from | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rock Candy" (featuring Jack McDuff) | Jack McDuff | Rock Candy (1972) | 6:12 |
| 2. | "Shadow Dancers" | George Benson | The New Boss Guitar of George Benson (1964) | 4:45 |
| 3. | "Clockwise" | George Benson | It's Uptown (1966) | 4:28 |
| 4. | "Willow Weep for Me" | Ann Ronell | It's Uptown (1966) | 7:48 |
| 5. | "A Foggy Day" | George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | It's Uptown (1966) | 2:39 |
| 6. | "The Borgia Stick" | George Benson | The George Benson Cookbook (1967) | 3:09 |
| 7. | "Paraphernalia" (featuring Miles Davis) | Wayne Shorter | Miles in the Sky (1968) | 12:38 |
| 8. | "Sugar" (featuring Stanley Turrentine) | Stanley Turrentine | Sugar (1970) | 10:05 |
| 9. | "So What" | Miles Davis | Beyond the Blue Horizon (1971) | 9:19 |
| 10. | "Ode to a Kudu" | George Benson | Beyond the Blue Horizon (1971) | 4:41 |
| 11. | "California Dreaming" | John Phillips, Michelle Phillips | White Rabbit (1972) | 7:19 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Originally from | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "White Rabbit" | Grace Slick | White Rabbit (1972) | 6:56 |
| 2. | "Body Talk" | George Benson | Body Talk (1973) | 8:22 |
| 3. | "Take Five" | Paul Desmond | Bad Benson (1974) | 7:07 |
| 4. | "Summertime" (Live) | George Gershwin | In Concert-Carnegie Hall (1976) | 6:05 |
| 5. | "Breezin'" | Bobby Womack | Breezin' (1976) | 5:21 |
| 6. | "This Masquerade" | Leon Russell | Breezin' (1976) | 8:04 |
| 7. | "On Broadway" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil | Weekend in L.A. (1978) | 10:10 |
| 8. | "Give Me the Night" | Rod Temperton | Give Me the Night (1980) | 5:02 |
| 9. | "Hip Skip" (featuring Tony Williams) | George Benson | The Joy of Flying (1978) | 8:07 |
| 10. | "Gotham City" (featuring Dexter Gordon) | Dexter Gordon | Gotham City (1980) | 9:19 |
| Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | March 28, 2006 | Columbia Records, Legacy Records [5] [6] | CD | 118065/2005330 |
George Washington Benson is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern jazz and bebop.
Ian Carr was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-rock band Nucleus, and was an associate professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He also wrote biographies of musicians Keith Jarrett and Miles Davis.
Amandla is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1989. It is the third collaboration between Miles Davis and producer/bassist Marcus Miller, after Tutu (1986) and Music from Siesta (1987), and their final album together. The album mixes elements of the genres go-go, zouk, funk and jazz, combining electronic instruments with live musicians. The composition "Mr. Pastorius", featuring drummer Al Foster, is a tribute to late jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius. "Catémbe" is a Mozambican and Angolan cocktail of red wine and cola.
Joseph LeslieSample was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders, the band which became simply the Crusaders in 1971, and remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991.
Eugene McDuff, known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio. He is also credited with giving guitarist George Benson his first break.
Omar Hakim is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Journey, Kate Bush, George Benson, Miles Davis, Daft Punk, Mariah Carey, The Pussycat Dolls and Celine Dion.
"This Masquerade" is a song written by American singer and musician Leon Russell. It was originally recorded in 1972 by Russell for his album Carney and as a B-side for the album's hit single "Tight Rope". The song was then covered on Helen Reddy's 1972 album, I Am Woman. It was then recorded by American vocal duo, the Carpenters, for their 1973 album Now & Then and as the B-side of the Carpenters's single "Please Mr. Postman". Three years later, "This Masquerade" was recorded by American singer and guitarist George Benson, who released it on his 1976 album, Breezin'. Benson's version, featuring Jorge Dalto on piano, was released as a single and became the first big hit of his career.
Seawind was an American jazz fusion band from Hawaii, consisting of its lead singer Pauline Wilson, guitarist Bud Nuañez, bassist Ken Wild, drummer Bob Wilson, keyboardist and saxophonist Larry Williams, saxophone and flute player Kim Hutchcroft, and trumpeter Jerry Hey. Seawind recorded two albums for CTI Records, one for Horizon Records and one for A&M Records.
Circle in the Round is a 1979 compilation album by jazz musician Miles Davis. It compiled outtakes from sessions across fifteen years of Davis's career that, with one exception, had been previously unreleased. All of its tracks have since been made available on album reissues and posthumous box sets.
The discography of George Benson consists of thirty-six studio albums and five live albums on Prestige Records, Columbia Records, Verve Records, A&M Records, CTI Records, Warner Bros. Records, GRP Records and Concord Records, as well as two music DVDs.
Super Blue is a 1978 album by jazz musician Freddie Hubbard. It was originally released on the Columbia label and peaked at #6 on the Billboard Charts. The album features performances by Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Joe Henderson and Kenny Barron with George Benson guesting on one track. In 2007 the album was rereleased on the Mosaic Contemporary label with three alternate takes.
White Rabbit is an album by George Benson. The title track is a cover of the famous Great Society/Jefferson Airplane song by Grace Slick.This album was George Benson's second CTI Records project produced by Creed Taylor and was recorded nine months after Beyond the Blue Horizon.
Sarah Vaughan, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown, is a 1954 jazz album featuring singer Sarah Vaughan and trumpeter Clifford Brown, released on the EmArcy label. It was the only collaboration between the pair. Well received, though not without some criticism, the album was Vaughan's own favorite among her works through 1980. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Polar AC is a compilation album by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. It was his final album released on Creed Taylor's CTI label and features performances by Hubbard, Hubert Laws, George Benson, Junior Cook, and Ron Carter. It was put together by CTI after Hubbard left the label to go to Columbia, and the tracks were recorded at different sessions, between 1971 and 1973. The album featured pieces: "People Make the World Go Round" and "Betcha, By Golly Wow", recorded both on April 12, 1972, and "Son of Sky Dive" recorded around 1973. "Polar AC" came from First Light sessions, whilst "Naturally" was recorded during Sky Dive sessions, and both can be found on CD reissues of their respective albums.
Beyond the Blue Horizon is a 1971 studio album by American jazz guitarist George Benson. It was his first album released by CTI and included organist Clarence Palmer, drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Ron Carter, and percussionists Michael Cameron and Albert Nicholson.
Good King Bad is the thirteenth studio album by American guitarist George Benson featuring performances recorded in 1975 and released by CTI Records in 1976.
The Teddy Charles Tentet is a 1956 jazz album featuring a tentet led by multi-instrumentalist Teddy Charles. Critically well received, the album is listed as one of the "Core Collection" albums in The Penguin Guide to Jazz and an essential recording in 2000's The Essential Jazz Records: Modernism to Postmodernism. Released originally in high fidelity vinyl by Atlantic, the album has been reissued on CD and LP multiple times since 2001.
While the City Sleeps... is a 1986 studio album by George Benson, released on Warner Bros. Records. It features musicians like Paulinho da Costa, Preston Glass, Paul Jackson, Jr., Marcus Miller and Narada Michael Walden, alongside young talents of the time like Kenny G, Randy Jackson and Kashif. Although it does not have any instrumental tracks, Benson's guitar playing is somewhat in the headlight in songs like "Love Is Here Tonight", "Teaser" and "Too Many Times". The most successful single of the album, "Kisses in the Moonlight", is still frequently played by Benson at live performances and is present on many of his compilation albums On the B-side of the "Kisses in the Moonlight" single – alongside "Breezin'" on the 12" version – is the instrumental song "Open Your Eyes" which is not available elsewhere.
The Greatest Hits of All is a compilation album by American singer and guitarist George Benson, released on July 8, 2003 by Warner Bros. Records and Rhino Entertainment. The compilation received this title for containing the greatest hits of Benson's career and also in reference to the song "The Greatest Love of All", originally recorded by Benson in 1977 especially to be the main theme of the film The Greatest, a biopic of the boxer Muhammad Ali. The song is featured on this album alongside Benson's other big hits. The songs are in chronological order, between 1976 and 1998, since "This Masquerade" and "Breezin'", including his most famous hits like "On Broadway", "Give Me the Night", "Turn Your Love Around", "Lady Love Me ", "Kisses in the Moonlight" and others. The compilation entered the Billboard and reached number 3 on the Jazz Albums. At the end of the year, the album ranked number 15 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums. The album also ranked number 74 on R&B Albums and number 138 on Billboard 200.
 | This article on a 2000s compilation album is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| | This 2000s jazz album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
