Track Listing

1. So What
2. Gentle Rain [From the Gentle Rain]
3. All Clear
4. Ode to a Kudu
5. Somewhere in the East
6. All Clear [Alternate Take][*]
7. Ode to a Kudu [Alternate Take][*]
8. Somewhere in the East [Alternate Take][*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212463 in Music
• Released on: 1997-09-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition

Customer Reviews

The Young Lion George Benson - Shows Us Why.
For all those who long for the George Benson who played masterfully and powerfully. For those who have avoided buying George Benson's post Bad Benson recordings because they miss the masterful guitarist who had you playing air guitar if you were a non musician and had you picking up the needle and setting it back to cop his licks, if you were a guitarist. This one's for you. The selections are straight up and cooking. Ron Carter and Jack De Johnette drive the rhythm section along throughout. Each clearly identifiable and bringing their unique approaches. Even without the alternate takes this album is worth it for me. This one is recorded well but is not quite as "produced" as some of the later CTI sessions which for me is a good point, no heavy orchestral arrangments here. George, if you're listening, give us more like this one. Some of us are still waiting.

Classic George Benson!
As much as I seem to loath George Benson's newer releases, I seem to want his old recordings more and more. I mostly love his albums during his stay at CTI, and his early Warner Brothers releases.

For those of you who don't know, George Benson's early days consisted of Benson covering jazz standards and turning them into funk tunes, and writing originals that grooved as well, with an ocassional straight ahead piece here and there.

Benson was anxiously wanting to sing, but Creed Taylor thought it would be best if he stayed an instrumentalist. Now I love George Benson voice, and I dig when he sings, but if the singing is the main attraction, I'm not gonna like it.

Here, Benson focuses on his guitar playing, and the outcome is great. The album opens up with Miles Davis's classic, So What, this time done very funked up, but during the solos the group swings it.

This is the epitome of George Benson's early career, and once he had a hit with On Broadway, it seemed he was more focused on playing pop music. But we still got these recordings to dig.

I'll always recommend George Benson Cookbook, Bad Benson, Other Side Of Abbey Road, and Breezin'. And I just checked out his most recent release, and I don't like it at all.

George Benson is a talented guitarist and singer, he's just following his heart, like Miles did in the 70's.

The Real George Benson!
I've been a George Benson fan for almost three decades now (though not so much in recent years) but for most of that time I was also a pretty ignorant one in that I used to believe his career began with 1976's Breezin'. I know better now of course. Fine an album as that one was (and still is) though, a few albums preceded it that were far superior, especially in terms of his jazz guitar playing. I'm thinking about White Rabbit, (also released in 1971), 1973's Body Talk and 1974's Bad Benson, and even after all this time, these are still some of my favourites.

This one I missed though. Recorded in 1971, I recently learned that it's considered by many to be one of his best. The sticker label on the front of the CD proclaims it as "the legendary musician's most brilliant guitar recording. A breathtakingly burning finger-bursting jazz guitar classic!" and after just one listen I have to say I totally agree. There are no vocals at all on this one, not even Benson's trademark background scatting, which alone marks it out. The guitar playing is mesmerisingly interesting.

There were five tracks on the original album, produced by Creed Taylor and it features other legends like Ron Carter on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums, with Clarence Palmer on organ, and Michael Cameron & Albert Nicholson on percussion. This (probably remastered) reissue has three extra tracks; alternate takes of "All Clear", "Ode To A Kudu" and "Somewhere In The East". These alternate takes are not quite as tight are the original versions and lean towards the smoother jazz Benson was to later become renowned for. No surprise there, I suppose.

I've always loved Benson's guitar improvisations but some of the stuff he does here - on the Bonfa/Duble tune "The Gentle Rain" and the exotic, worldly "Somewhere In The East" especially - is just crazy. The percussion on the tune is almost worth the price of the CD all on its own. "All Clear" has been one of my favourite tracks by Benson for the longest time ever since a friend put it in a compilation tape for me back in the old days. It's only recently I decided to find the album the song came from. I may have left it rather late but better late than never, no?

If you ever wanted to have an idea of how George Benson might have turned out if he hadn't tried to be a jazz guitarist AND a pop singer at the same time, this CD is definitely worth checking out. Personally, I love every minute of it.