Appreciated as both musician and performer by millions, George Benson has always had the duel personae of expert improviser and vibrant entertainer. He has always placed his keenly discerning art in the service of a rousing good time. Rounding out his singular approach with sly, seductive rhythm and blues, he's earned himself an impeccable reputation as one of music's most enterprising and engaging stars.
Few might have predicted that striking level of stardom some forty years ago, when Benson was a fledgling guitarist working the corner pubs of his native Pittsburgh. That's where his yen to please a crowd was born. "I was an entertainer first," he says proudly "As a kid I sang, danced and played the ukelele in a nightclub. As my career has progressed, I've had the pleasure of playing with the baddest jazz cats on the planet. But that doesn't change my desire to entertain folks. That's really who I am."
It was Wes Montgomery, one of jazz's most creative players, who came across Benson early on; the vet complimented the young guitarist, urging him to continue his already impressive work. In the early 1960s, Benson apprenticed with organist Brother Jack McDuff; he found the organist's gritty swing a fertile ground for the sly, confident and adventurous guitar lines which earned him an early rep as a master.
"Jack turned me on to a lot of stuff," muses Benson. "A lot of the jazz tunes we played together were danceable, and that furthered my understanding of what people wanted. When jazz was danceable, it was king. The intellectual stuff that came later on - Charlie Parker and all that - turned toward a brainier sound. That was good, and I dug it. But I really like when people kick up their heels and go crazy."
Montgomery had called one of his best records Boss Guitar. Benson had both the conviction and chops to nip at his hero's heels; his 1964 debut was released as The New Boss Guitar. It lived up to its title. Benson's tone was juicy, and his blues solos sparkled with a carefully honed logic. A jaunty funk and swing aesthetic prevailed. By the time legendary talent scout John Hammond signed Benson to Columbia, the guitarist's name was bubbling throughout the industry. His work for the label proved Hammond's hunch to be on-target: brains and flash were in perfect synch.
"I'd sat down with a great blind pianist from San Francisco name Freddy Gambrel," recalls Benson. "He turned me onto some wonderful ways to get in and out of chord changes and weld harmonies together. Of course I still wanted to be like Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, and Hank Garland - my heroes. I've always liked the hot guitar guys."
Playing the combination won Benson access to all sorts of arenas. His work was boundless: in the late '60s he sat in on heady Miles Davis sessions, and also put a personal spin on the tunes from the Beatles' Abbey Road. Hooking up with the CTI label in 1970, he was united with many of jazz's finest instrumentalists, including Stanley Turrentine, Ron Carter, and Freddie Hubbard. His visibility and prestige grew even further. Classic albums, such as Beyond the Blue Horizon, abounded. But after a while different ideas began to flow from Benson's muse. And the environment didn't seem right for growth.
"I'd been screaming about my guitar sound for years, and they didn't want to hear about it. I wanted to use my band in the studio, just get comfortable and test out some stuff. But it was like pulling teeth. The first time I tried to sing along with my guitar, everybody in the studio booed. They all said that it wouldn't work. When I got with Tommy LiPuma all that changed. He said 'Sure, let's go with some vocals, see where we get.' And you know what happened after that." What happened was Breezin', the first jazz record to attain platinum sales. The 1976 blockbuster, his first in a long association with Warner Bros. Records, brought the instrumental title track to jazz radio. And Benson's soulful update of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade," which featured the guitarist scatting along with his solo break, was a pop smash. He followed up with a sultry version of "On Broadway," and the irresistible "Give Me The Night," which thrilled many a dancer. Benson was a superstar.
Some old fans were miffed about this new pop success. "I guess that's the biggest crime I've made as far as jazz lovers go," offers Benson. "They don't always like to see you play for the general public. They want to be catered to. But I've tried that approach and it doesn't work for me. Nobody can stay one way for 30 years. I've always tried to let my experience show itself. You learn, you change. The door opened and I walked through it." Throughout the 1980s Warner Bros. and LiPuma followed their smash success with several terrific Benson records. Individually, they blended grooves and guitar work, proving that R&B was a natural part of Benson's profile. Collectively, they cemented his global renowned. The guitarist has won eight Grammies, played around the world, and thrilled many crowds with his playing.
In the mid-'90s Benson followed LiPuma to the GRP label. Their association had proven artistically and commercially fertile; both wanted to sustain it. Together they cut the 1996 gem That's Right. It offered a modern version of contemporary jazz that reminded its listeners Benson was one of the genre's forefathers. These days Benson's interests are many. He's often spotted out at Manhattan jazz clubs, checking the action of fledgling guitarists. The most impressive of the lot are sometimes invited back to Benson HQ for jam sessions and stylistic powwows. The guitarist is resolute about keeping the sparkle in his playing.
"The younger cats awaken something in me from the early days. I love listening and playing with guys like Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove, and Christian McBride. When they tell me I've still got the chops, I feel great." Benson's latest GRP disc is Standing Together. It not only assures that his chops are sharper than ever, but suggests that his studio savvy is continuing to grow. This time around, he uses elements of hip hop and Caribbean rhythms to keep his personalized R&B on the edgy side.
"I'm not against ear candy," he chuckles, "but I like mine to be significant, not just noises in the record. Some of those backing tracks on the new record are cool. They give me little tidbits of sound to bounce my guitar lines off of." Said like a open-minded creative type, which is exactly who Benson is. Unfazed by the constrictions of predictability, he's built a career on sniffing out what people enjoy hearing, and what he enjoys playing. "I had to break a couple rules along the way," he reflects. "There was an unwritten law: be cool, don't get too raunchy. But jazz was once hanging-out music. And the easiest way to involve people is by getting 'em tapping their feet. When they're tapping a bit, they'll go your way. That's when I can float any kind of jazz line into the music. Once the audience knows I respect them, they let me be whatever I want to be. I hope - no, I firmly believe - that will always be the case."
Al Jarreau's unique vocal style is one of the world's most
precious treasures. His innovative musical expressions have made
him one of the most exciting and critically-acclaimed performers
of our time with five Grammy Awards, scores of international
music awards and popular accolades worldwide.
It's not surprising that he has perfected his technique to such
an art. After all, he has been singing since the age of four,
harmonizing with his brothers and performing solo at a variety of
local events in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Music,
however, was not always the major force in his life. He excelled
in sports and was an above-average student throughout high school
and college.
The Indigos Ann Hassler, Peter Bock, Duffy Farrand
Enrolling at the respected Ripon College in Wisconsin, Jarreau
continued singing for fun, performing locally with a group called
The Indigos during weekends and holidays, and graduated with a
Bachelor Of Science degree in Psychology. After moving on to the
University of Iowa to earn his Master's Degree in Vocational
Rehabilitation, Jarreau subsequently relocated to San Francisco
to begin a career in rehabilitation counseling.
It was there that Al's natural musical gifts began to shape his
future. He found himself performing at a small jazz club with a
trio headed by George Duke, and by the late 60's, he knew without
a doubt that he would make singing his life. Relocating to Los
Angeles, he began his apprenticeship in such famed nightspots as
Dino's, the Troubador and the Bitter End West. Shortly
thereafter, he branched out to New York City as well, where he
gained national network television exposure with Johnny Carson,
Merv Griffin, David Frost and Mike Douglas as he teamed with
guitarist Julio Martinez to "spell" up-and-coming comics John
Belushi, Bette Midler, Robert Klein, David Brenner, Jimmie Walker
and others at the famed comedy venue, The Improv.
In 1975, following an extended stint at the Bla Bla Cafe in Los
Angeles, he was spotted by Warner Bros. Records talent scouts and
was signed to a recording contract. His debut album for the
label, We Got By, was released to unanimous acclaim. It was a
reception that spread across the continent and over the Atlantic
when Jarreau was awarded a German Grammy for Best New
International Soloist that same year. A second German Grammy came
his way with the release of his follow-up album, Glow.
In 1977, Jarreau embarked on his first world tour, from which the
selections for Look To The Rainbow, his double live album, were
culled. That same year, he won his first American Grammy for Best
Jazz Vocal Performance and was singled out for special honors in
readers and critics polls in Performance, Cashbox, Downbeat,
Stereo Review and other respected music publications.
His fourth album, All Fly Home, was released in 1978 to further
accolades and a second Grammy for Best Jazz Vocalist. It was
followed by a string of innovative and original offerings,
including 1980's This Time, and the million-selling Breakin'
Away, which brought him a broader audience and two more Grammy's
with awards for Best Male Pop Vocalist and Best Male Jazz
Vocalist.
The follow ups to Breakin' Away, 1983's Jarreau, and High Crime
spawned a string of R&B and pop hits and further cemented him as
an international superstar. Al Jarreau Live In London, recorded
before an SRO crowd at Wembley Arena in 1985, continued to
solidify Jarreau's reputation as a world-class master of both
studio and stage. Following the live album, Jarreau teamed with
top producer Nile Rodgers for L Is For Lover, which brought some
new styles and sounds to the singer's repertoire. He continued to
top the stateside charts in 1987 and became a weekly guest in
America's living rooms singing the GrammyR nominated theme song
for the hit television series Moonlighting.
He soon launched into the recording of the Heart's Horizon album,
which contained the #2 R&B smash "So Good" and earned him another
GRAMMYR nomination, this time for Best R&B Album. After touring
the globe for nearly two years, he returned to the studio - this
time with Narada Michael Walden - to fashion the sound that would
launch him into his third decade of music-making. The result was
1992's Heaven and Earth for which he received his fifth GRAMMYR
for Best R&B Vocal Performance. With this, he became one the rare
artists to have won GRAMMY'SR in the three categories of jazz,
pop, and R&B.
In 1994, Tenderness was released. On this Marcus Miller-produced
gem, Jarreau is joined by an all-star cast (David Sanborn,
Kathleen Battle, Joe Sample, Steve Gadd, to name a few) to bring
us a host of familiar contemporary compositions and to revisit a
few Jarreau classics.
1996 brought some exciting career challenges. While on a break
from touring, Jarreau accepted a three-month stint on Broadway
playing the role of Teen Angel in the hit musical Grease! Other
recent credits include guest star appearances on New York
Undercover, Touched By An Angel and a national McDonald's
commercial with R&B songstress, Vesta Williams.
Then, to commemorate 20 years of success, Jarreau released his
first-ever compilation album, Best of Al Jarreau. The collection
highlights 14 of Jarrreau's best-known songs alongside two new
tracks produced by Jarreau's long-time friend, jazz giant George
Duke.
Al recorded his first album for the GRP label, "Tomorrow Today",
released in the US on March 7, 2000. One of the highlights from
the album was a duet with Vanessa Williams on the song, "God's
Gift to the World".
GRP Records ia a label of The Verve Music Group, which is chaired
by GRAMMYR winning producer Tommy LiPuma. The signing of Al to
GRP reunites these old friends; LiPuma produced Jarreau's Glow
and Look to the Rainbow recordings.
Al recieves is awarded a star on the "Hollywood Walk of Fame"
commemorating his status as one of the best singers of his
generation.