Every now and then when I’m reevaluating my playing I turn to a few artists to regain my focus: Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery and George Benson (the earlier years, sorry George). I find that they tend to bring me back to that special sound of Straight Ahead Jazz and Soulful Blues that is a dominant feature throughout their playing styles.

The past couple of days I have been listening to Benson’s Breezin’ album (a vinyl copy at that!) a lot. There’s some really nice playing by George on those sides and he’s got some gorgeous melodies happening alongside some serious lines. And his phrasing is just killer, in my opinion. It’s no wonder he was considered the heir apparent to Wes Montgomery.

Unfortunately, I never got into Benson’s later albums. There are a few that I own and yes, there’s some great playing on some cuts, but there’s not an album that has come out since Breezin’ and Weekend in LA where every cut on the album grabs me as much. That is, until Benson’s Absolute Benson, which I think is a great album along the lines of Breezin’. Great playing, great vibe and great tunes. If you don’t have that CD then you may wanna consider checking it out.

The other cool thing about Breezing is that it was one of the first Jazz albums I bought when I first started getting into Jazz Guitar. Originally it was Al DiMeola who got me interested in Jazz, but it was George who “closed the deal” as it were…:) Much like when I heard Stanley Clarke and thought he was THE best Bassist in Jazz…that is until I heard Jaco Pastorius’ first album…there was no mistaking who was the truer Jazz player…not taking anything away from Stanley of course, who is a monster player in his own right…but Jaco had that “thing”…especially on Metheny’s “Bright Size Life”…another turn-around album and artist for me.

Well, I’m gonna stop here or I’ll be waxing nostalgic all night. If you have any albums or artists that you keep going back to for inspiration, feel free to comment on them, I’d love to hear who turned you on to this great music and instrument.

The Guitar Style of George Benson By George Benson (1921-), compiled by Dave Rubin. Instructional book for guitar. 72 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.660113) See more info…