Four years ago GRP/Verve released Best of George Benson Live, recorded at a concert the veteran jazz guitarist and singer gave in Belfast, Ireland, in 2000. The set drew mainly from the 1976-’81 period of his career, when he was routinely landing songs in the Billboard pop chart’s top ten (”On Broadway,” “Turn Your Love Around”), winning Grammies in categories like Record of the Year (1976’s “This Masquerade”), and working with Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton while they were in between blockbuster Michael Jackson albums (1980’s Give Me the Night).
Benson makes another conscious nod to that period on Songs and Stories (Concord), his latest studio album. Recently, music journalist Jon Caramanica wrote in the New York Times that “Adult soul, as practiced by Maxwell, K’Jon and others, borrows from classic soul in song structure and is preoccupied with more mature themes relevant to an older audience. Twenty years ago some of these records might have been called ‘quiet storm,’ and nowadays there’s overlap between smooth jazz, gospel and adult-oriented R&B.”
Benson may be a few generations older than current stars like Maxwell, but he’s been blending jazz, R&B, and pop for decades now. In fact Songs and Stories marks his 45th anniversary in the recording business, and along with fellow ’70s hit makers like Bill Withers, his music has helped pave the way for the younger crowd.
