Bad Benson
Preceding Breezin' his crossover smash for Warner in 19786, Bad Benson shows the guitarist still hanging on to his Wes Montgomery roots in places while stretching his soul-jazz persona into even funkier arenas. CTI had a formula for making funky, accessible jazz and fusion records that in 1974 still held true. Arranged by Don Sebesky Bad Benson is a collection of delicious, varied, and sometimes confusing choices. Benson s own playing is precise and smooth as always, and guitarist Phil Upchurch keeps a large color palette for him to draw from, as in the funkified version of "Take Five." Other notables are the stellar "My Latin Brother," which begins as a Debussy-ian impressionistic string study before becoming a heavily arpeggiated variation on the samba Kenny Barron s pianism here is the driving force behind a rhythm section that also includes drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Ron Carter They give Benson a harmonic floor for one of the most inspiring solos of his career. These intensely meaty cuts -- along with Upchurch s stellar swinging in the pocket groover "Full Compass" -- are juxtaposed against ballads such as "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" and "The Changing World," a pair of ballads that ape Montgomery s later snore-fest session for A&M Thankfully, Legacy s remastered CD version includes three bonus tracks from the session: a hip and syncopated read of "Take the 'A' Train" (with truly surreal and shimmering colors courtesy of Sebesky s string section) and the amazingly driving, greasy funk of "Serbian Blue," as well as a simply beautiful -- and brief -- solo from Benson called "From Now On." Not a great album, but a very, very good one. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
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Credits »
George Benson - Main Performer
Phil Upchurch - Ensemble
Steven Berkowitz - A&R
Didier C. Deutsch - Liner Notes
Didier C. Deutsch - Reissue Producer
Don Sebesky - Arranger
Don Sebesky - Conductor
Rudy Van Gelder - Engineer
Creed Taylor - Producer
Todd Whitelock - Mixing
Todd Whitelock - Mixing Engineer
Mark Wilder - Remastering
Seth Rothstein - Project Director
Howard Fritzson - Reissue Art Director
Patti Matheny - A&R
Stacey Boyle - Tape Research
Kristin Kozusko - A&R
Darren Salmieri - A&R
Related Artists »
Wes Montgomery
Charlie Christian
Tal Farlow
