| George Benson | |
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 Onstage in 2004
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| Background information | |
| Born | March 22, 1943 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Jazz, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Website | www.georgebenson.com |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Ibanez GB10 Signature Model Ibanez GB200 Signature Model |
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George Benson (b. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a A songwriter is someone who writes the Lyrics to songs the Musical composition (chords or Melody to songs or both A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Ibanez (ˈaɪbænɛz or /aɪˈbænɛz/ is a Guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki and based in Nagoya Aichi, Japan. Ibanez (ˈaɪbænɛz or /aɪˈbænɛz/ is a Guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki and based in Nagoya Aichi, Japan. March 22, 1943, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, whose recording career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States He is however, better known to the public at large as a Pop and R&B singer, famous for such hits as "Give Me The Night", "Lady Love Me (One More Time)", "Turn Your Love Around", "In Your Eyes" and "This Masquerade", among others. Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure
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Style and Distinctives
Benson's style is that of a true jazz player finding popularity in pop without "selling out. " He is known for his silky clear guitar leads which often feature harmonized complexities. His vocals could be characterized as a masculine Stevie Wonder. While there are many quality jazz guitarist and solid R&B vocalists, unique to Benson's sound is the "scat-lead. " As featured in Benson's version of "On Broadway," Benson will vocalize in unison with his guitar lead. As a jazz improvisario makes their instrument "talk," so Benson's doubly makes his two instruments "talk" simultaneously.
Biography
Early career
Benson was born and raised in the Hill District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended the defunct Connelly High School and dropped out. The Hill District is a collection of Neighborhoods that was once considered by many to be the cultural center of African-American life in in the United States He now lives in Englewood, New Jersey's Bergen County. Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 26203 Benson started out playing straight-ahead instrumental jazz with organist Jack McDuff. "Brother" Jack McDuff ( September 17, 1926 - January 23, 2001) was a Jazz Organist and Organ trio Benson got his first experience playing with his several-year stint with McDuff's group. At the age of 21, Benson recorded his first album as leader, The New Boss Guitar, with Brother Jack McDuff on organ.
Benson's next recording was It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet with Lonnie Smith on organ and Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax. Lonnie Smith may refer to Lonnie Smith (born 1955 Major League Baseball player 1978–1994 Lonnie Smith (Texas politician, Texas state Ronnie Cuber (born December 25, 1941 in New York City) is primarily a jazz Baritone saxophonist. This album showcases Benson's talent in constructing swinging bebop lines at blistering tempos. Benson followed it up with The George Benson Cookbook, also with Lonnie Smith and Ronnie Cuber.
Miles Davis employed Benson's talents in the mid 1960s; Benson played guitar on "Paraphernalia," which appeared on the trumpeter's 1967 Columbia release, Miles in the Sky. Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26 1926 &ndash September 28 1991 was an American Jazz Trumpeter, Bandleader, and Composer. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company He went to Verve Records for a spell afterwards. Verve Records is an American Jazz Record label now owned by the Universal Music Group. Then, Creed Taylor signed him up for his CTI label, where he recorded numerous albums with jazz heavyweights guesting to limited financial success. Creed Taylor (b1929 in Lynchburg Virginia) is an American Record producer. CTI Records ( Creed Taylor International or Creed Taylor Incorporated) was a Jazz Record label founded in 1967 by Creed Taylor Benson also did his versions of The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road which he entitled, The Other Side of Abbey Road (also released in 1969) and "White Rabbit" (originally written and recorded by San Francisco rockgroup Jefferson Airplane) around this time. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Abbey Road is the eleventh official album released by The Beatles. " White Rabbit " is a Psychedelic rock and Acid rock song from Jefferson Airplane 's 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band from San Francisco, a pioneer of the Psychedelic rock movement
1970s and 1980s
By the mid to late 1970s, as he recorded for Warner Bros. Records (he had recently signed with them), a whole new audience began to discover Benson for the first time. Warner Bros Records Inc is an American Record label that operates as a wholly owned Subsidiary of Warner Music Group. With the 1976 release Breezin' (also the name of a memorable instrumental on the album which became an AM Radio staple), Benson began to put his vocal on some tracks, such as "This Masquerade," which was the first song to make #1 on the Billboard pop, jazz and R&B charts (Benson had used his vocals on some songs earlier in his career, notably his rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" on the Other Side of Abbey Road record). " This Masquerade " is a song composed by Leon Russell. See Billboard (Turkish magazine Billboard is a weekly American Magazine devoted to the Music industry " Here Comes the Sun " is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles ' 1969 album Abbey Road. He was part of psychedelic soul group Harlem Underground Band during the 1970s, whose much sampled song "Smokin' Cheeba Cheeba" was featured on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on Rare groove station Mastersounds 98. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is a sandbox-style action-adventure computer and Video game developed by Rockstar North Rare groove is an umbrella term used to describe very rare vintage records 3. [1]
| “ | He can play in just about any style—from swing to bop to R&B to pop—with supreme taste, a beautiful rounded tone, terrific speed, a marvelous sense of logic in building solos, and, always, an unquenchable urge to swing. [2] | ” |
On the strength of "This Masquerade" (it won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year) and the electrifying live take of the classic "On Broadway" recorded about a year later (from the 1977 release Weekend in L. The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually " On Broadway " is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. A. , which also won a Grammy), he was able to crack through via the Pop and R&B Top Ten and as the 1970s wound down, songs such as the aforementioned "Give Me The Night" (which was produced by Quincy Jones), which was his biggest U. The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Quincy Delight Jones Jr (born March 14, 1933) also known as Q, is an American Music Impresario, conductor S. pop hit, peaking at #4, "Turn Your Love Around" and others became big hits for Benson as well. " Turn Your Love Around " is one of many major R&B Jazz and Pop hit singles for George Benson. On Warner Bros. , Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold albums.
He also recorded the original version of "Greatest Love of All" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali bio-pic, The Greatest; the song was later recorded successfully as a cover by Whitney Houston. " Greatest Love of All " is the fourth and final single released from Whitney Houston 's self-titled first Studio album, Whitney Houston Biography Early life Cassius Clay Jr was born on January 17 1942 The Greatest is a 1977 film about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali, in which Ali plays himself Whitney Elizabeth Houston' (born August 9 1963 is an American Singer-songwriter, Actress, Film producer, Arranger and former
Later and current career
By the mid 1980s, Benson cooled down a bit on the charts and spent the rest of the decade and the 1990s and up till today, continuing to tour and record music.
In 1985 Benson and guitarist Chet Atkins succeeded on the smooth jazz charts with their collaboration "Sunrise," one of two songs from the duo released on Atkins' disc Stay Tuned. Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins ( June 20, 1924 &ndash June 30, 2001) was an influential Guitarist and Record producer Smooth jazz, also sometimes referred to as new adult contemporary music is generally described as a genre of music that utilizes instruments (and at times improvisation Producer Mike Poston states Benson and Atkins recorded an entire album's worth of music, but due to disagreements between lawyers for their record companies, the rest of the material has never been released.
In 1992, Benson appeared on Jack McDuff's Colour Me Blue album.
George Benson toured with Al Jarreau in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to promote their 2006 album Givin' It Up. Alwyn Lopez "Al" Jarreau (born March 12, 1940) is an American singer
He played during the 2nd Monsoon Cup in Terengganu in 2006 and also Malaysia's 50th Merdeka celebration alongside Al Jarreau in 2007. Terengganu ( Jawi: ترڠڬانو, formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu) is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and One of his guitars was sold at a charity auction at the 3rd Monsoon Cup Charity dinner at RM150,000 to an anonymous bidder.
One of his songs, "Affirmation," was used in the anime television series, Samurai Champloo, during the episode, "Gamblers and Gallantry. (anime in Japanese, is a Japanese animated television series consisting of twenty-six episodes " The track plays as one of the protagonists, named Jin, helps a woman escape from an Edo era Japanese brothel. The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. This is a list of known characters in the Anime and Manga series Samurai Champloo. The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 For the 2008 film of this name see The Brothel. For the television series of this name see Cathouse The Series.
In 2008, and for the first time, He takes part in Mawazine Festival in Morocco.
Discography
Samples
George Benson "Breezin'" (1976)
George Benson - "This Masquerade"
References
External links
- Tour dates
- George Benson
- George Benson official homepage
- George Benson's career on A&M Records with gallery, international discography
- George Benson Guitar Tabs
- The Work of Claus Ogerman - George Benson's work with hit arranger/conductor Claus Ogerman is documented here in a pictorial discography of original albums, compilations, and singles - many with explanatory liner notes.
- George Benson 2006 Interview with Al Jarreau on Sidewalks Entertainment
- Excellent Interview with George Benson Recorded by NPR's KJZZ
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Benson, George |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American singer-guitarist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 22, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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