George Benson appears with Minnie Riperton tomorrow at P.M., in the Palladium Theater, 14th Street near Third Avenue. It's good experience, but I don't want to go back to that.” I once thought about designing a guitar made of iron to stop bullets.
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where all you heard was tinkling glasses after a set. “When I hear critics, I think about the days when I was out on the road playing the segregated ghetto clubs. It can he whatever I like after I do some of the songs to plug my new releases. My band has no fixed repertory of music we play. Seconds after I walk on stage, I can sense what will work with an audience and what won't. I wouldn't want to produce my own records because they know best what kind of sound you need to get over on an automobile radio. and Al Schmitt, my engineer, have their own notions, and I'm glad for their help. I like a strong bass beat but Tommy LiPuma, my producer. “I have more say about the kind of music I play, how it actually sounds after we leave the studio, but before its pressed on wax. “When my old fans talk critically about my going commercial, I don't worry too much,” Mr. Benson has delivered.įollowing the huge success of “Breezin',” “In Flight,” his latest album, is well into the “gold” category, selling between 9,000 and 12,000 copies a day. It called for two records a year, both of which Mr. A standard type of contract was signed by the artist for $1 million in 1975. Benson said, his fortunes immediately improved. I signed at least 20,000 copies people brought to clubs, and still they told me at the company in New York that the record was losing money.”Īfter he changed over to Warner Brothers, Mr. “I could feel that album's success when I was traveling with my band on the road. “I knew there was poor promotion and bad distribution, but when I did record called ‘White Rabbit,’ around 1972, I knew something was wrong. Benson helped produce a recording “sound” that became known ais the CTI trademark, his records were always lacking in sales, or so he was told. I knew I was putting the right thing on records, but nothing was happening.”Īt CT!, a company for which Mr. “I'm sitting here thinking that all of this should have happened to me years ago. “I learned my instrument playing jazz, and it was the personal reassurance of friends who were giants-John Coltrane and Miles Davis and Wes Montgomery-that inspired me to continue. Benson said the other day, sipping coffee and cognac. “Playing jazz is what I like to do best,” Mr. Benson is increasingly being compared, he has an easy technical mastery of his instrument and a cool self‐assurance. Like the late Nat (King) Cole and the guitarist Wes Montgomery, to whom Mr. Benson is crossing over from the financially restrictive jazz world into the more lucrative mainstream. It, too, is sold out.Īfter 15 years of playing jazz for his living, the 33‐year‐old Mr. Benson will settle down in the customary format his hard‐core jazz fans appreciate best. Finally, on Monday, the last night of the four‐day festival, Mr. This concert was sold out shortly after it had been announced.īut tomorrow night the artist will share the stage of the Palladium on 14th Street with Minnie Riperton, the pop‐rock vocalist, and on Sunday night he appears with Arthur Mitchell's Dance Theater of Harlem in a specially choreographed performance at Avery Fisher Hall. Benson will perform in a variety of settings.Īs a guitarist, he will appear alongside Bucky Pizzarelli, Les Paul and Gabor Szabo, premier instrumentalists, at a guitar “jam” that starts at 8 tonight in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Benson's old following, mainline jazz fans around the Big Apple. The concerts will not only set out to satisfy the appetites of Mr. Benson is still viewed by his champions as having a vast untapped audience.
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His album “Breezin'” has sold almost two million records and he has had increasing television exposure, yet Mr.
#BREEZIN GEORGE BENSON MOVIE SERIES#
The promoters say this unusual series of concerts is designed for maximum exposure of the guitarist, who hasn't performed in his hometown in nearly a year. “Benson X Four” this weekend is the name of a one‐man four‐night festival, a smorgasbord of jazz‐to‐pop musical offerings, a showcase for the bluesy singing voice of George Benson and the nonelectric beauty of his guitar.