George Benson Live

On November 6, 2020, Mascot Label Group/Provogue Records releases a new live album "Weekend In London", by the legendary George Benson. As an all-time icon and Grammy-winning giant of jazz, we have grown used to seeing George Benson on the stages that befit his sky-high status. During a six-decade career marked by awards, acclaim and Billboard-topping output, the Pennsylvania-born veteran has earned his place in both the history books and the biggest venues around the world. So it's a rare treat - and a whole different thrill - to find this megastar going nose-to-nose with the breathless 250-capacity crowd at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, one of London's most prestigious and famous venues. Weekend In London brings Benson full circle.

The 2013 compilation Verve Ultimate Cool: George Benson brings together tracks recorded by the influential jazz guitarist in the '60s and '70s. These are largely groove-oriented cuts that showcase Benson's knack for R&B-influenced jazz improvisation. Here we get such songs as his live version of "Breezin'," a supremely funky "Shape of Things to Come," "Billie's Bounce," and more. Ultimately, Verve Ultimate Cool works as a nice single-disc overview of Benson's soul-jazz period.

This particular Original Album Classics release contains five albums issued by George Benson through the Warner Bros. label: Breezin' (1976), Weekend in L.A. (1977), Give Me the Night (1980), Tenderly (1989), and Big Boss Band (1990). This is a rather arbitrary assortment; Benson made several other significant albums during the span covered here, and the stylistic differences between the earliest and latest sets are stark…

George Benson - It's Uptown (1966) {2015 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICJ 33} (ft. Dr. Lonnie Smith)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 382 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 143 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 324 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1966, 2015 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICJ 33
Jazz / Hard Bop / Jazz Pop / Soul Jazz / Guitar / Organ Hammond B-3

Reissue with the latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. George Benson's first LP for Columbia – a hard, heavy, soul jazz slammer that bears no resemblance to his overproduced work of the 70s! The album's a real cooker – recorded hot on the heels of Benson's classic work on Prestige with the Jack McDuff group, and sounding a lot like McDuff's hard wailing organ jazz of the same time. George is working with a group that features a young Lonnie Smith on organ, plus Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Ronnie Cuber on sax, and Charlie Persip on drums – all tightly coming together, and jamming hard on the album's short cooking tracks. Tracks include "Clockwise", "Jaguar", "Hello Birdie", and "Bullfight". Plus, the CD adds five bonus tracks, including "Sideman", "Minor Chant", and the previously unreleased "J.H. Bossa Nova" and "Clockwise (Alternate Take)".