George Benson - In Flight
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Music CD Cover
Artist: George BensonEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1996-06-11
Music Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Soundtracks:
- Nature Boy
- The Wind And I
- The World Is A Ghetto
- Gonna Love You More
- Valdez In The Country
- Everything Must Change
Free Music Notes for In Flight
Free Music Review: Benson bends over backwards
Hit: 4 Stars
I take the cynical view: After the comparatively phenomenal success of the previous year's Breezin', I believe Benson and the people behind him figured they'd cash by giving the people even more of what they'd concluded they wanted. And let's be honest; although the instrumental title track of that album was all over the radio too, it was the vocal track "This Masquerade" that was the real big hit. A Grammy winner, no less.
So this time, Benson goes for not just one vocal track, not just two, not three but a whole FOUR! - "Nature Boy", "The World Is A Ghetto", "Gonna Love You More" and "Everything Must Change" - launching the album (and his career) fully into pop territory. My friend Derek was right in his review some time ago; the balance was all wrong and I heard that a lot of long-established fans went running.
Benson probably drew in some new ones though and in fairness, "Nature Boy" is a brilliant track; the album probably went double platinum on the strength of that song alone. It's pure soul and it's on this track and on this album that he starts to emphasise his trademark - scatting along to his guitar improvisations. Of the other vocal tracks, "The World Is A Ghetto" is my favourite and while the other two are okay, they are nothing really special. The man is a fantastic singer though, it has to be said.
When it comes to the two instrumental tracks, Benson pays homage to his spiritual mentor Donny Hathaway by doing an interesting cover of "Valdez In The Country" (which Hathaway wrote) and Ronnie Foster-penned "The Wind And I" is again, pleasant enough. But this is not 'real' jazz and it's not Benson at his best either. The album's saving grace in the end, is the brilliant contribution by the session band: Phil Upchurch on rhythm guitar, Ronnie Foster on electric piano & mini-moog, Jorge Dalto on clavinet & acoustic piano, Stanley Banks on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Ralph MacDondald on percussion. Also playing a huge part in elevating this album are Tommy LiPuma's excellent production and Claus Ogerman's lush orchestration. Collectively, everyone involved succeeds in elevating the album to something really special and definitely worth having in spite of its weaknesses. Put it this way: if you take the view that this is a soul/r&b album with jazz influences then it's a five star album all the way.
But, if like me, you view it as a jazz album by a jazz artiste that is bending over a bit too far backwards to appease the masses, then it falls short. Four stars is the best I can do.
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