George Benson, a jazz guitarist, was born in Pittsburgh in 1943. Jack McDuff, an organist, was Jack Benson’s first teacher. Benson gained his first experience while playing in McDuff’s band for several years. Benson, at the age of 21, recorded The New Boss Guitar with Brother Jack McDuff as his organist. It’s Uptown was Benson’s second recording. It featured the George Benson Quartet, Lonnie Smith on organ, and Ronnie Cuber playing baritone sax. This album shows Benson’s ability to create swinging bebop lines in fast tempos. The George Benson Cookbook, also featuring Lonnie Smith and Ronnie Cuber, followed. The song “This Masquerade”, one of his biggest hits, is also included in the best-selling album Breezin’. This album marks a shift towards more commercially-oriented music, which allowed Benson to reach a wider audience, but also alienated some jazz lovers. The Billboard Hot 100 also includes “On Broadway” (1978),”Love Ballad”, (1979),”Give Me The Night” (80), and “Turn Your Love Around” (1982). Benson continues to be a great jazz guitarist, as demonstrated by recordings like Jimmy Smith’s Off the Top and Tenderly. Benson is accompanied on the piano by McCoy Tyner. George Benson, for his contributions to the recording industry has a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7055 Hollywood Blvd. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
