George Benson & Jack McDuff - George Benson & Jack McDuff
ARTIST.....: George Benson & Jack McDuff
TITLE......: George Benson & Jack McDuff
LABEL......: Prestige
URL........: http://www.georgebenson.com
RIP DATE...: Dec-21-2007
STORE DATE.: Sep-25-2007
GENRE......: Jazz
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 86,3 MB
Track Listing:
01 - shadow dancers 04:46
02 - the sweet alice blues 04:39
03 - i don't know 06:50
04 - just another sunday 03:03
05 - will you still be mine 04:29
06 - easy living 06:39
07 - rock-a-bye 04:00
08 - hot barbecue 02:59
09 - the party's over 06:49
10 - briar patch 02:53
11 - hippy dip 06:28
12 - 601 1,2 no. poplar 04:14
13 - cry me a river 04:47
14 - the three day thang 03:38
─────
66:14 min
Release Notes:
Review by Michael G. Nastos
George Benson's facile post-Wes Montgomery single-line and chord-
accented style was well received in his salad days of the mid- to
late '60s. Primarily self-taught and ear-trained, he made great
strides in a five-year period around his native Pittsburgh,
working with organist Jack McDuff on the East Coast chitlin
circuit. As the soul-jazz and boogaloo movement was establishing
itself, Benson was right in the pocket, as these seminal mid-'60s
sessions perfectly illustrate. In tandem with saxophonist Red
Holloway, the two Prestige label LPs New Boss Guitar and Hot
Barbeque were initially reissued in 1977 on a vinyl two-fer, and
now on this single CD. The first two tracks, "Shadow Dancers" and
"The Sweet Alice Blues," sans McDuff though toeing the groove
line, are the most original and modern numbers. The remaining
tracks on the New Boss Guitar 1964 dates add McDuff, with "Just
Another Sunday" a gold standard for the emerging style. Benson's
balladic expertise during "Easy Living" is as impressive as in the
different dynamic of the rompin' stompin' "Rock-A-Bye." From May
Day of 1965, the title cut and original version of "Hot Barbeque"
has become an all-time hit and ultimate groove biscuit. Drummer
Joe Dukes is the difference maker, as his fluid ease in either
swinging or mixing hard bop with R&B fifty-fifty effectively
drives the band so simply. "Briar Patch" approaches rock & roll,
while "Hippy Dip" shows a completely unified Benson and McDuff on
a fun melody line. A most arresting high-register organ sound,
near unearthly, surrounds an easy swing on "The Party's Over." In
addition, check out the slow late-night blues "I Don't Know" (from
the 1964 dates) and "Cry Me a River" from 1965. Although Benson
would reach a zenith in his short career as a jazz musician during
this period, before abandoning its purity for commercial pop
singing, Holloway and McDuff went on and on and on to their own
great acclaim. This is Benson's initial emergence, and a valuable
reminder of how great he once was.
http://www.amazon.com/George-Benson-Jack-McDuff-Duff/dp/B000ULQVDY