George Benson is one of the hottest bop players on the planet. When he plays bop that is :) I showed his insane chops on "Take Five" earlier here in my entry about the Ibanez FG 100. That video must be one of the hottest jazz guitar videos on the tube, if not THE hottest. Check it out.
Some of Benson's best straight ahead jazz playing can be found on a 1973 album, recorded live at the Casa Caribe club. George is supported by George Duvivier on bass, Al Harewood on drums and Mickey Tucker on piano. Here's "All the Things You Are" from that album that I found on the tube. Chops galore:
Of course you want to play that classic Benson solo so here's the transcription of the single line section:
9 Years later, in 1982 Jimmy Smith recorded an album called "Off the Top" with a super supporting cast consisting of George Benson on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, Stanley Turrentin on tenor and Grady Tate on drums. The album has some pretty unusual tunes on it but the title track features a totally amazing bop solo by George featuring some insane triplet playing. Wow. Just wow. I found the full track on Youtube:
For those that think they can pull it off (haha, no way, Jose) here's a transcription of that killer solo. It includes the fingerings even. The man is something else.
ummm....I think I'll just listen to it. :)
ReplyDeleteTo hot for me.