George Benson
Benson's rich and fluid runs are uncorrupted by platinum-bracket commercial success and unequalled by any other jazz guitar stylist. He has achieved this remarkable crossover not only because of his talent for jazz-disco-pop fusion, but also because he is such a smooth vocalist. If this two-record LP can be faulted, it is for its rather indulgent length. Included are a half dozen repetitive and, at times, tedious ballads that melt away without a trace. They dilute Benson's beautiful versions of Freddie Scott's 1963 Hey Girl, the soulful Sam Cooke classic A Change Is Gonna Come, and some funkier R&B tunes (Prelude to Fall, Nassau Day, Before You Go). Still, Benson's runs, breezing along over the bass/drum anchor, mixing jazz with the visceral rhythms of soul, are exhilarating—even with strings attached.
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