Collection: George Benson

George Benson is one of the most technically gifted jazz guitarists of his generation, and for collectors the records that matter most came before "Breezin'" made him a household name. Born in Pittsburgh in 1943, he was playing professionally as a teenager, joined Brother Jack McDuff's quartet in 1962, and at twenty-one recorded his debut leader album "The New Boss Guitar of George Benson" (Prestige, 1964) with McDuff still in the band. His Columbia albums of the mid-1960s, particularly "It's Uptown" (1966) and "The George Benson Cookbook" (1967) with Lonnie Smith on organ and Ronnie Cuber on baritone saxophone, showed a guitarist already operating at an elite level, a point reinforced by Miles Davis using him on "Paraphernalia" from "Miles in the Sky" (1968). Creed Taylor then signed Benson first to A&M and then to his CTI label, where between 1970 and 1975 he recorded some of the strongest guitar albums in that catalogue's run, with heavyweights including Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, and Stanley Turrentine appearing across the sessions. "White Rabbit" (1971) and "Beyond the Blue Horizon" (1971) are the CTI titles collectors reach for first, though "Bad Benson" (1974) and the live "In Concert-Carnegie Hall" (recorded 1975, released 1976) are not far behind. The Warner Bros. years that followed produced "Breezin'" (1976) and a run of commercially dominant albums that brought in a different audience and largely overshadowed this earlier body of work.