Line-up

Headliner
George Benson Last time in SF Bay Area: 8 years ago

Venue

Davies Symphony Hall

Grove Street & Van Ness Avenue, 94102, San Francisco, CA, US

sfwmpac.org/symphonyhall/sh_index.html

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Additional details

Doors open: 20:00

Concert in your area for Funk & Soul, Jazz, and Rock.

Find out more about Rock.

George Benson biography

A ten-time Grammy Award winner, singer-songwriter George Benson has produced 36 full-length studio albums and 50 singles throughout an illustrious career.

Born on March 22nd 1943, George Benson began his career when he was recognized as a child prodigy at the age of 10 when he recorded and released his first single “She Makes Me Mad”, whilst under the name Little Georgie. In his adolescence, he developed his talent, honing his craft as a songwriter and a musician. When he was 21 he released an album called “The New Boss Guitar”. His next album was “It’s Uptown” with his very own quartet. He was later employed to play for Miles Davis in the 1960s to play guitar on “Paraphernalia”, a piece on Davis’ album “Miles in the Sky” released on Columbia Records in 1968.

Benson clambered to the top of the Billboard Jazz chart with his release “Bad Benson”, and he also released a version of The Beatles’ 1969 album “Abbey Road” called “The Other Side of Abbey Road”. Around this time, Benson was also a musician for hire, playing many sessions for other aritsts, such as Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine.

Benson started to reach brand new heights in 1976 with his album “Breezin’” which Benson earned himself a Grammy for. The album became the very first jazz release to go Platinum. He also recorded the original version of “The Greatest Love of All” for the 1977 biopic about Muhammad Ali called “The Greatest”. Whitney Houston popularized the song bringing it to a global audience.

Quincy Jones produced and released Benson’s first pop album, “Give Me The Night”, which was released on August 9th 1980. The album put Benson in front of a much wider audience, becoming a global hit record and charting internationally. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 charts with the title track becoming a Top 20 hit in over ten countries. The album later went Platinum.

From the “Love Remembers” album in 1993 until “Absolute Benson” released in 2000, Benson had four consecutive number one jazz records. Throughout his career, he would maintain a balance with his albums maintaining a crossover status in popular music.

Benson released the album “Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole” which featured household names such as Idina Menzel, Judith Hill and Till Brönner and then performed at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro.

Live reviews

George Benson has already established himself as a living legend. He has already won ten Grammy Awards for his brilliance as a jazz guitarist and gained a spot on the Hollywood walk of fame. His performances are absolutely mesmerizing consisting of the smooth jazz that will have audiences swaying in their seats. George Benson started his career playing deep soulful jazz music with many great jazz legends including Jack McDuff. Not only is George Benson well regarded for his adept skills on the jazz guitar, but he is also an excellent singer covering such styles as R&B singing and scat singing. During performances George Benson will sometimes put down his guitar and pick up a microphone to serenade the audience. When it comes to smooth jazz there is no one that is quite as good as George Benson on the guitar. The tones he gets on the guitar are the purest and smoothest possible. He uses interesting rhythms and uses a guitar picking technique called a rest-stroke technique that was used by many great gypsy jazz guitarists such as Django Reinhardt.
During live performances George Benson tours with a large backing band that creates lush, orchestrated sounds. His piano player is very well trained and often plays a Wurlitzer electronic piano that adds to the smooth jazz vibe with the piano’s mellow bell like sound. His band also consists of bass player that often plays on a fretless bass producing very funky riffs. There are also several female backup singers that harmonize and accompany George Benson’s singing to add to the ornate sound of the performance. Just like his smooth style of music, George Benson also has a smooth personality on stage by bantering with the audience and gratefully thanking his audience for coming out to see him. A George Benson concert is ensured to set the appropriate mood for a mellow evening of jazz music that will inspire you. Seeing this legend pluck away the smooth tones on his jazz guitar is nothing less than invigorating.

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