AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
George benson take five2/24/2023 ![]() ![]() There’s great value in singing down in that register. ![]() That creates a challenge, but I decided to just lay into the material with the vibe that Nat had. “I had it down pat! Nat was a natural baritone. “If I’d done this a few years back, it would have been closer to Nat’s voice,” he says. You still hear signature Benson-isms including his trademark guitar scat style (with nods to King Cole Trio guitarist Oscar Moore in the harmonies) and glimpses of his dynamic top range flourish. He’s a man that looks forward to a challenge…and I do, too.”Ī star in his own right, Benson did not disappear into the “role” of Cole. I always call Randy when I have something special to do. He also created a new arrangement on ‘Smile’ that is totally different than Nat’s. Randy said, ‘George, saluting Nat is a great idea, man.’ Randy knows what he’s talking about, he’s worked with Barbra Streisand for years! Randy gathered all of Nat’s original arrangements together for me, knew every nuance, and as a conductor, made sure we got all the juices out of `em. “When John Burk (Producer and Chief Creative Officer of Concord Music Group) asked me to do this, we started by calling Randy to co-produce. ![]() You were in the story.”īenson’s arranger of choice was Randy Waldman. Not only could you hear the music, you could see it, so to speak. That’s what made these cats so big – you were thrown into the story by the way the arranger surrounded the artist and helped to paint the picture. I keep my radio tuned to stations that play the classics – Sinatra, Sammy, Torme’ – so I’m used to hearing spectacular arrangements. “Nat knew the value of surrounding himself with expert everything! That’s what gave his music timeless value. However, for Inspiration, Benson is providing fans with the kind of experience Cole himself would deliver. Just after Benson’s career sprung into the stratosphere with the success of his 1976 LP Breezin’ (the first jazz album to be certified platinum) and the single “This Masquerade,” he recorded a progressive version of Cole’s classic “Nature Boy” for his next LP In Flightthat reintroduced the song to fresh audiences worldwide. Even though he was considered one of the great jazz pianists, it was his voice that catapulted him to the top of the heap.” As I grew older, Nat stayed at the top of the roster doing the same things – great arrangers, great songs and great musicianship all around him – the best of the best. They were very musical and once you heard them you never forgot them. There was a lot of blues & R&B goin’ on but Nat had songs. At that time, of all the stars I heard on the radio, Nat was the one who stood out. I couldn’t even play guitar yet – my hands were too small. Reflecting on where this all began, Benson takes us back to his inspired street corner beginnings as Little Georgie Benson, “At the opening of Inspiration, you hear me playing my ukulele and singing ‘Mona Lisa’ at 8 years-old. Benson and Waldman went back to the original charted arrangements of Cole’s great orchestrators Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins for all of the numbers for utmost authenticity of expression. There are big band blasts (“Ballerina” and “Just One of Those Things”), intimate balladry (“Mona Lisa” and “Unforgettable”), and finger poppin’ trio hits (“Straighten Up and Fly Right” and “Route 66”). With conductor Randy Waldman, The Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, special guest trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Till Brönner, and singers Idina Menzel (Broadway star, best known for her work in Rent, her Tony Award-winning performance as Elphaba in Wicked and her recurring role in the hit TV series Glee) and Judith Hill(featured in the documentary Twenty Feet From Stardom), Benson explores the many facets of Cole’s legacy. In honor of this, George Benson delivers an album he has literally been preparing for all his life: Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, available on CD, digital and vinyl LP – worldwide on Concord Records, June 4, 2013. The keys were ambition, accessibility, all-around quality and strict attention to the wants and desires of their audience. With Cole’s spellbinding voice and his unforgettable catalog of classic songs in the `50s and `60s, he paved the way for the level of tremendous international crossover success that dynamic ten-time GRAMMY winner Benson earned in the `70s to the present – from jazz to pop, and from instrumental innovator to vocal sensation. In the universe of masters and mentors, the torch has never been passed as impeccably as from Cole to Benson. Two decades later George Benson did the same by redefining the world of jazz by garnering the first platinum jazz album in 1976. Nat King Cole broke barriers and literally changed the face of music. There are legends in the world of music… and then there are icons. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |