Some low-key stuff I like: Joe Henderson - Black Narcissus (1997 Big Band version) Miles Davis - Blue in Green
Part of me wants to be disappointed in George Benson for what happened later, but I can't deny him his money. And those songs on Breezin' weren't bad, nor was Gimme The Night- they just weren't jazz. And real jazz was a bit more popular back then than it was a decade later. I wish it'd stayed so- there wouldn't be as many jacknuts who say they don't like it. I just wish he'd done the cash grab and then gone back to the Cookbook instead of remaining on the pop path for the rest of his days, as he seems to want to do.
Yes! George Benson is the greatest jazz guitarist of all time. It's a shame that he went commercial but I'm just a jazz nerd.
"Chelsea Bridge" alone would be enough to guarantee his apotheosis. "Funky Stuff" is also good. Both it and "Jungle Boogie" are on Wild And Peaceful, one of the Ten Greatest Funk Albums of All Time.
Agreed on all. But Jungle Boogie and Funky Stuff are 70s tunes. The 80s KATG was like if Zeppelin had written Mandy
Oh, I agree. But that's happened a lot in music. Hard for me to think of anyone, in any genre of music, that's ever released four consecutive albums of the quality Stevie Wonder did in the early/mid-70's. And then he went on to do "I Just Called To Say I Love You" and "Ebony And Ivory", and thereby broke my ********ing heart.
Beautiful tone. Total command of dynamics. The heaviest groove and hard driving modern bebop on guitar. It's a total feat. And his ideas are just so natural and soulful. The doubling with vocal lines shows how musical he is: the ideas just flowing. I love a lot of other guitarist: Lenny Breau, Grant Green, Jim Hall, Pat Martino. I'm not too hip to the new cats so I'm sure there are great players driving forward. GB is just my fav.
It may be the era. The 80s seemed to do that to some talented musicians who made their bones in the 70s. Chicago/Solo Cetera, Lionel Richie, the Police come to mind. Van Halen, Yes...
I don't disagree, but production can't affect a crappy song to the degree that it becomes less crappy. I think Synchronicity suffered from over production, yes, but it wouldn't have ever been Zenyatta or Outlandos or Ghost in any case. Synchro was purely Sting in the process of becoming whatever it was he became after the Police broke up. Same with Cetera channeling his inner Barry Manilow. The stuff he wrote in the 80s HAD to be produced like it was, IMO. I don't hate on Manilow. He was writing what seemed to me to be theatre music that made it to radio. FWIW, I bought both Blue Turtles and Nothing Like The Sun, and then I pretty much gave up on Sting.
I try to keep it sparse and "acoustic"*, so you'll see from me more piano trios with double bass than anything else. * no Fender basses, no solid body guitars, no electric pianos unless the tune is just too great to ignore. No B-3s either.
This hit me in the late 90s (I'm actually late to the party- didn't really invest in jazz listening until the mid-90s) when I was at a long-ish traffic light one night. Yes, it was raining. I turned off my wipers so I could hear it undisturbed. I'd had KoB for maybe six, seven months, but this was the epiphany. It was almost like a movie scene. If I'd had a cigarette in my hand, it would have been perfect. I mean, everybody and his cousin loves on KoB, but it is what it is for a reason, and that night I realized that sometimes the critics know what the ******** they're talking about. @Cascarino's Pizzeria this one isn't three minutes, but it's only 5:39. Best I can do. I hope you give it a listen and a chance.
I agree, but truth told, there are some fairly compelling arguments out there that this is Bill Evans' composition. I can't say, because KoB was supposed to have been all Miles, and IIRC, with each tune done in one take. The last tune I posted is often attributed to him as well, but it's a Ron Carter tune AFAIK. The difference is that Ron's alive to say so.
Bill Evans is masterful on Blue in Green. He sets the tone from the opening and when Miles blows that first muted note, you're transported to a deep communion with the soul. Throughout, BE lends sensitive comping to each solo and restates the theme with gorgeous permutations of phrasing between each solo. And wraps it all up with a sublime rubato outro. So tasty! I'm not a fan of his trios. The bass playing is over-busy for my taste. But he's, no doubt, among the finest jazz pianists. And everyone loved playing with him.
That would be the magnificent Scott LaFaro, who actually did die in a fire. You'll grow into the genre as you listen longer. Jazz really isn't intended to be a ballerina, a drummer and a lumberjack- everyone contributes, or the bassist is nothing but an accompanist and should go home.
I've probably listened to the wrong GB. I don't dislike him, at all; and I agree that he has nice tone. But he's just never really grabbed me; what I've heard from him has always seemed a little too slick for me. Like I said, I've probably just listened to the wrong stuff of his. Grant Green, Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell are the guitarist leaders that I find myself drawn to most often, plus Jim Hall's album with Bill Evans.