BREEZIN GEORGE BENSON FLUTE PROFESSIONAL

He made money for his growing family and entertainment for millions.ДonвЂ™t let the lush string arrangements make you think this is just common schlock. In BensonвЂ™s case, his shift was not to the past but to a comforting present, stage-of-the-art pop that not only topped the jazz charts but made #1 in pop as well. This is purely music for pleasure, and while that may lead to charges of selling out, this doesnвЂ™t deserve ChristgauвЂ™s accusations of вЂњmush.вЂќ This is the sound of musical communication in its purest form to go back to MurakamiвЂ™s fictional painter in Killing Commendatore, the narrator notes that the artistвЂ™s modern phase was technically proficient and even stunning, but вЂњsomething was missing.вЂќ That something emerged when the painter returned to tradition. The rest of the album plays out in variations of this new sound: highly commercial, comfortable timbres engineered for a pleasing clarity thereвЂ™s no false note, no electrical distortion, no coloring outside the lines. But from the flute overture that opens the track to the lightly funky rhythm and crisp, lilting melody, itвЂ™s guaranteed to lighten your mood, no small achievement in these tense times. Originally recorded by Gabor Szabo, Bobby WomackвЂ™s вЂњBreezinвЂ™вЂќwas the epitome of easy listening, BensonвЂ™s version adding gentle figures including a nod to вЂњTheme from a Summer Place,вЂќ a defining muzak melody. With its melancholy croon, вЂњMasqueradeвЂќ was the moody track to plug, but the opener set the scene with an all-timer that perfectly suited the easy-going title. The yellow background and parallel lines on the cover suggest a school notebook, apt since the album turned out to be a template for a lucrative pop career. What good would it do him to cover a song that had already been recorded by the Carpenters and Helen Reddy? After a couple of days of rehearsals, Benson and his group got it down in a few takes, and with a little engineering help to get BensonвЂs vocal the way he heard it in his head, and though he didnвЂ™t expect anything to come of it, вЂњThis MasqueradeвЂќ introduced the airwaves to a voice that would soon be everywhere.Д«reezinвЂ™ was BensonвЂ™s 15th album as a leader.

And Benson wasnвЂ™t too keen on the Leon Russell song that producer Tommy LiPuma kept pushing on him. Records.ДЄccording to BensonвЂ™s 2014 memoir, he was skeptical when WEA exec Bob Krasnow approached him for a major league deal. Still, as successful as his CTI records were, he entered a whole new level with his debut for Warner Bros. By the вЂ70s, Benson had moderate commercial success with the slick fusion of the CTI label his 1974 album Bad Benson is one of the highlights of this era, with an inspired version of the Paul Desmond standard вЂњTake Five.вЂќ Even at his most inventive, Benson never went outside-Robert Christgau complained in a pithy dismissive review of the 1977 album In Flight, вЂњTurn those amps up!вЂќ But even in a middle-of-the-road jazz tradition, Benson had a defining tone and recognizable swing.

BREEZIN GEORGE BENSON FLUTE PROFESSIONAL

The Pittsburgh-born guitarist began his professional career as a sideman for soul jazz organist Jack McDuff in the early вЂ60s, when Benson was just 19. And in the case of Breezin, this experience, in the vinyl format for which it was made, is as accessible as your local thrift store, where BensonвЂ™s albums are in generous supply. In each of these cases, itвЂ™s like the scales fell off oneвЂ™s ears. It can also be said of a listener who cut their jazz teeth on shredders like Sonny Sharrock and Pete Cosey, but after long dismissing Top 40, learned to appreciate the simple pleasures of a perfect pop song. The same might be said of jazz guitarist George BensonвЂ™s pivot to pop music with his 1976 album BreezinвЂ™, a multi-platinum seller that became one of the best-selling jazz records in chart history.

вЂњIt was less a shift and more akin to a conversion.вЂќ ThatвЂ™s how author Haruki Murakami, in his 2017 novel Killing Commendatore, describes an aging Japanese artistвЂ™s unexpected development from young modern artist to elderly traditionalist.

Breezin george benson flute