White Rabbit George Benson Artist

For {|George Benson|}'s second {|CTI|} project, producer {|Creed Taylor|} and arranger {|Don Sebesky|} successfully place the guitarist in a Spanish-flavored setting full of {|flamenco|} flourishes, brass fanfares, moody woodwinds and such. The idea ... Read more

For {|George Benson|}'s second {|CTI|} project, producer {|Creed Taylor|} and arranger {|Don Sebesky|} successfully place the guitarist in a Spanish-flavored setting full of {|flamenco|} flourishes, brass fanfares, moody woodwinds and such. The idea works best on {|California Dreamin'|} (whose chords are based on Andalusian harmonies), where, driven by {|Jay Berliner|}'s exciting Spanish rhythm guitar, {|Benson|} comes through with some terrifically inspired playing. On {|El Mar,|} {|Berliner|} is replaced by {|Benson|}'s protege {|Earl Klugh|} (then only 17) in an inauspicious -- though at the time, widely-heralded -- recorded debut. The title track is another winner, marred only by the out-of-tune brasses at the close, and in a good example of the {|CTI|} {|classical|}/{|jazz|} formula at work, {|Heitor Villa-Lobos|}' {|Little Train of the Caipira|} is given an attractive early-'70s facelift. {|Herbie Hancock|} gets plenty of nimble solo space on Rhodes electric piano, {|Airto Moreira|} contributes percussion and atmospheric wordless vocals, and {|Ron Carter|} and {|Billy Cobham|} complete the high-energy rhythm section. In this prime sample of the {|CTI|} idiom, everyone wins. ~ Richard S. Ginell Less