Weekend in L.a.

U-Nam makes one goal of Weekend in L.A.: A Tribute to George Benson clear: He wants to pay honor to the guitarist who served as a major musical influence. However, because U-Nam himself is an innovator steeped in R&B and hip-hop along with jazz, he is not content to make the kind of record that Benson might have dropped in 1980. U-Nam incorporates those genres into this work in the same manner that Benson moved further along the jazz-pop road that Wes Montgomery was starting down prior to his untimely death in 1968.

George Benson - Weekend In L.A. (1977) {Warner Bros. 3139-2 rel 1999}
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© 1977, 1999 Warner Bros. Records Inc. | 3139-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Crossover Jazz / Quiet Storm / Guitar

Recording live at Los Angeles' Roxy club – then a showcase for many of the hottest acts in pop – was just the tonic that George Benson and his Breezin' band needed on this often jumping album. With unusually lively crowds (for a record-industry watering hole) shouting encouragement, the band gets deep into the four-on-the-floor funk and Benson digs in hard, his rhythmic instincts on guitar sharp as ever. The balance between vocals and instrumentals is about even – George's voice sounds more throaty and soul-oriented than before – and amid the new material, there is a revisit to a favored CTI-era instrumental, the lovely "Ode to a Kudu."

This particular Origina 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.

Mixing well-read indie rock with joyful, Afro-pop-inspired melodies and rhythms, Vampire Weekend grew from one of the first bands to be championed by music bloggers into a chart-topping, Grammy Award-winning act that helped define the sound of indie music in the late 2000s and 2010s. After establishing the foundations of their bright, intricate style with 2008's Vampire Weekend, the band soon became hugely successful; they're the first indie rock act to have two consecutive albums (2010's Contra and 2013's Modern Vampires of the City) enter the Billboard 200 at number one. With each release, Vampire Weekend's music grew more diverse, incorporating ska, hip-hop, and '80s pop influences that nevertheless complemented their signature style. Similarly, the band weathered the loss of founding member Rostam Batmanglij to deliver some of their most polished and ambitious work with 2019's Father of the Bride, their third chart-topper.

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…

Monty Alexander - Jamento (1978) {Pablo OJCCD-904-2 rel 1996}
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© 1978, 1996 Pablo Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-904-2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Piano

Monty Alexander's Jamaican heritage is combined with his bop-oriented piano on this date to create some enjoyable music. This was his first recording to make use of a steel drummer (Vince Charles), and Alexander also uses an oversized rhythm section with Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin, bassist Andy Simpkins, both Duffy Jackson and Roger Bethelmy on drums and percussionist Larry McDonald. The repertoire (which includes four Alexander originals and George Benson's poppish "Weekend In L.A.") is mostly obscure, but the interpretations are lively and full of spirit.