Jazz Soul

Oh yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. George Benson. With the 1976 release Breezin’ GB sought to catch folks off guard, so he slipped a vocal on the remake of ‘This Masquerade’ and permanently tilted the trajectory of his already well-groovin’ jazz career. Breezin’ went multiple times platinum. Jazz fans enjoyed the sparkle of pride in there eyes for his mainstream success but also became possessive because their jazz guitarist had acquired admirers other than listeners who appreciated the fundamentals of swing.

I hate to imagine if he decided to keep his deliciously homegrown voice to himself. By now we’d still have a legendary guitarist, which is fine. But, how fly is it to vocalize alongside your guitar chords? His way of paralleling the two has decidedly become his tradmark– this is what we expect from George Benson, this is how we know it’s a GB track. (Although it took me a minute to realize that the song 'Inside Love/So personal' was George Benson – I didn’t know, I had it on a mix tape for years! Plus, I was like 6 years-old when it dropped.)

And, even though the 80s pulled George Benson further into the R&B world (with production work by Kashif) his singing voice, chocked full of over-enunciations, could still be identified as jazz vocal styling. Even uber-producer Qunicy Jones was caught up in the R&B rapture. From Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, to his own dance machine record The Dude, you weren’t sure if Qunicy and partner in crime, songwriter Rod Temperton, gave jazz a rest permanently. 'Give Me The Night', a QJ production, is one of those tracks DJs slip into the gettin’ down medley of Chaka Khan’s 'I Know You, I Live You'; Frankie Beverly and Maze’s 'Before I Let You Go'; James D-Train Williams 'You’re The One For Me', etcetera.

If George Benson ever comes to BB Kings, I will be there a day early. I’ve never seen him perform. Sad, sad, sad. And, on top of that, he was at all the major jazz festivals this year (which I missed. Not trying to be a junketeering additct like ole boy from John Henry Days). And, anyway, I might hurt myself at his show, cause I’d be up there in the front row going bananas. They might have to put me on stage alongside the vocal accompaniment, for real. Believe it or not, this is on my to-do list for 2006. Okay, I have a separate to-do list, one for serious life decisions and the other is for live shows. Some folks who are scratched off: Roy Ayers, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, seen ‘em. Folks who still remain: Al Jareaux, Santana, Patti Labelle and GB.