Showing posts with label Jimmy Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jimmy Smith. Show all posts

Saturday, January 23, 2021

George Benson - ...and on guitar (1971)

George Washington Benson was born on March 22, 1943, and as a child prodigy he first played the ukulele in a corner drug store, for which he was paid a few dollars, then at the age of eight he was playing guitar in an unlicensed nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights, before the police closed the club down. At the age of nine he cut his first recordings, and of the four sides he recorded, two were released as the 1954 'She Makes Me Mad'/'It Should Have Been Me' single on RCA Victor in New York. He first came to prominence in the early 1960's, starting his professional career at age 19 by playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff, and at the age of 21 he recorded his first album as leader, with 'The New Boss Guitar' featuring McDuff on organ. He followed this with more albums as leader of The George Benson Quartet, with 'It's Uptown' in 1966 and 'The George Benson Cookbook' the following year. At the same time as having his own band, he was also playing in other groups, with such jazz luminaries as Hank Mobley, Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, and Stanley Turrentine, and he was even employed by Miles Davis to add guitar on 'Paraphernalia' from Davis' 1968 Columbia release 'Miles In The Sky'. Benson then signed with Creed Taylor's jazz label CTI Records, where he recorded several albums with some jazz heavyweights guesting on them, and his solo career really began to take off, culminating in him signing to Warner Brothers Records for his Grammy Award-winning breakthrough album 'Breezin''. This collection showcases some of his best work from the early 60's to early 70's on other artist's albums, and fans of his later smooth-jazz output might be astounded to hear what an excellent straight jazz guitarist he was in the early part of his career. It's a double disc set, as some of these tracks are quite lengthy, but I just couldn't bear to edit them down, so we end up with an hour and a half of superb mid-60's jazz.  



Track listing

Disc One
01 This Can't Be Love (from 'Cookin' Together' by Red Holloway 1964)
02 It Ain't Necessarily So (from 'Live!' by Brother Jack McDuff 1963)
03 Alligator Bogaloo (from 'Alligator Bogaloo' by Lou Donaldson 1967)
04 Sideman (from 'Finger-Lickin' Good' by Lonnie Smith 1967)
05 Music To Watch Girls By (from 'Jaki Byard With Strings!' by Jaki Byard 1968)
06 Paraphernalia (from 'Miles In The Sky' by Miles Davis 1968)
07 Up, Over, And Out (from 'Reach Out' by Hank Mobley 1968)
08 Some Of My Best Friends Are Blues (from 'The Boss' by Jimmy Smith 1968)

Disc Two
01 The Infant (from 'Heaven On Earth' by Larry Young 1969)
02 Mellow Blues (from 'Mellow Blues' by Willis Jackson 1970)
03 How Long Will It Be (from 'Crying Song' by Hubert Laws 1970) 
04 Sunshine Alley (from 'Sugar' by Stanley Turrentine 1970)
05 Straight Life (from 'Straight Life' by Freddie Hubbard 1971) 

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Have A Swinging Christmas 2020

We need some cheering up after one of the worst years we've ever lived through, so as an alternative to the usual Christmas songs that we're inundated with, here's a selection of Christmas tunes from my favourite jazz artists. I've tried to go for the less obvious song choices, so no 'Jingle Bells' or 'Silent Night', although I have topped and tailed it with two different approaches to 'White Christmas'. Even if you're not that much into jazz then do give it a try as you'll probably find a few tracks that will appeal, and you never know, it might turn you on to a new genre of music that you hadn't appreciated before. The artists that I've chosen are among my all-time favourite jazz musicians, and although I'd loved to have included something by Thelonious Monk, he never recorded a Christmas tune, although he did write a couple, so Benny Green's version of his 'Christmas Wonderland' is a fine replacement.

Merry Christmas  



Track listing

01 White Christmas - Charlie Parker Quintet 
02 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Duke Pearson
03 The Christmas Song - Dexter Gordon Quartet
04 Winter Wonderland - Bobby Timmons
05 We Free Kings - Roland Kirk
06 Snowfall - Ahmad Jamal
07 Blue Christmas - Miles Davis
08 Christmas Blues - Ramsey Lewis Trio
09 Christmas Wonderland (Monk) - Benny Green
10 Winter Wonderland - Chet Baker
11 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bill Evans
12 Greensleeves - John Coltrane
13 Skating - Vince Guaraldi
14 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Jimmy Smith
15 White Christmas - Kenny Burrell