Artist: George Benson
Album: Bad Benson
Genre: Jazz
Release Date: 1974/2016
Audio Format:: FLAC (tracks) 24 bit, 192 kHz
Duration: 33:44
Total Tracks: 6
Total Size: 1,25 GB

Tracklist:

01. George Benson – Take Five (07:10)
02. George Benson – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (02:59)
03. George Benson – My Latin Brother (06:53)
04. George Benson – No Sooner Said Than Done (06:01)
05. George Benson – Full Compass (05:44)
06. George Benson – The Changing World (04:55)

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Preceding Breezin’, his crossover smash for Warner in 1976, Bad Benson shows the guitarist still hanging on to his Wes Montgomery roots in places while stretching his soul-jazz persona into even funkier arenas. CTI had a formula for making funky, accessible jazz and fusion records that in 1974 still held true. Arranged by Don Sebesky, Bad Benson is a collection of delicious, varied, and sometimes confusing choices. Benson’s own playing is precise and smooth as always, and guitarist Phil Upchurch keeps a large color palette for him to draw from, as in the funkified version of “Take Five.” Other notables are the stellar “My Latin Brother,” which begins as a Debussy-ian impressionistic string study before becoming a heavily arpeggiated variation on the samba. Kenny Barron’s pianism here is the driving force behind a rhythm section that also includes drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Ron Carter. They give Benson a harmonic floor for one of the most inspiring solos of his career. These intensely meaty cuts — along with Upchurch’s stellar swinging in the pocket groover “Full Compass” — are juxtaposed against ballads such as “Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams” and “The Changing World,” a pair of ballads that ape Montgomery’s later snore-fest session for A&M. Not a great album, but a very, very good one.