George Benson
+ Amadeu Casas & Myriam Swanson
A guitar virtuoso and an exquisite singer
Not many artists manage to jump from the more or less purist jazz milieu to stardom. George Benson is one of the privileged artists who achieved this, from his beginnings in the instrumental jazz as a brilliant guitarist to his current status as a jazz-pop singer… even though throughout all of this he has never forgotten his virtuoso talent with the six strings instrument. During his fifty year career, the US artist has played in front of hundreds of millions of fans all over the world, and he has received ten Grammy prizes, becoming the most successful crossover jazz-soul-pop artist.
After acquiring experience on the road as a member of the band of the legendary jazzman Brother Jack McDuff and recording with figures such as Miles Davis, George Benson redefined the jazz world when in 1976 he achieved, with “Breezin” the first platinum album in this field. With this release, and with the 7” “This Masquerade” he transformed himself from an innovating instrumentalist into a vocal sensation. After that came some other successful albums, such as “Give Me The Night” (1980) produced by Quincy Jones.
Benson is, not only one of the best guitar players in jazz history, but also an extremely versatile musician who can play swing, bebop, rhythm´n´blues, soul or pop with an exquisite flair. Influenced by guitar legends such as Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery, he has created, however, his own unique style. And as a singer he could perfectly be placed besides legends of black music such as Stevie Wonder or Donny Hathaway.
Benson´s last work so far is “Inspiration. A Tribute To Nat King Cole” (2013), and in July he will publish his memoirs, “Benson: The Autobiography” (2013). The guitarist and singer will arrive to Barcelona following his European tour, that will stop in England and France, with a lineup that features Stanley Banks (bass), David Garfield (keyboards and musical direction), Thom Hall (keyboards), Michael O´Neill (guitar and voice), Khari Parker (drums) and Liliana de los Reyes (percussion and voice).
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