News

What a night he gave them

In the main, George Benson put on a cool, steamy set.

By SEAN DALY, Times Pop Music Critic
Published October 19, 2007

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ADVERTISEMENT [Joseph Garnett, Jr. | Times] Jazz guitarist George Benson kicked off the first night of the 2007 Clearwater Jazz Holiday Thursday at Coachman Park with a set that spotlighted both his guitar playing and his voice.

CLEARWATER - George Benson would make a great James Bond. Everything the jazz giant does is dripped in cool, from playing that there guitar (a lethal weapon for sure) to crossing over as a lady-killing R&B hit machine in the '70s and '80s.

He's also a handsome son of a gun, and if I had the ability to grow facial hair, I'd want a mustache just like his.

A professional musician before he hit his teens, the Pittsburgh-born Benson turned 64 this year. But he remains one suave, quick-fingered dude, and his energetic show Thursday was a sexy, if at times a tad syrupy, way to kick off the 2007 Clearwater Jazz Holiday.

A 10-time Grammy winner, Benson is often compared to Nat King Cole, another masterful jazzman who turned out to have a fine, and very profitable, voice. As he scored bigger and bigger vocal hits (especially Turn Your Love Around), his otherworldly guitar playing took a backseat to his crooning.

When Benson set aside the guitar at Coachman Park, his show waned into perilous smooth-jazz territory. A thin rendition of Never Gonna Change My Love for You was downright brutal, and a perfect time to flee for a funnel cake.

He also lost some style points when he hollered, "Tampa! I didn't know you had this many people in the whole town!" After he kept screwing up his geography - and the crowd started harrumphing - someone in his band set him straight. He lifted his arms in apology. "Someone said we're in Clearwater! Then where the heck is Tampa?"

Snafus aside, when Benson picked up his golden guitar and let that sucker sing, the show often turned thrilling. Influenced by Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian, Benson is a percolating picker, unleashing frenetic solos that pop and bop and build to great outlandish bursts. This Masquerade flashed all his hot skills: that smoldering midrange vocal, that bubblelicious guitar style and that seductive stage presence that bordered on the naughty.

Nary a patch of grass was there for the squatting by the time Benson took the stage at 8:15 p.m. With the nighttime temps dipping into the paradisical 70s, thousands upon thousands of people poured into Coachman Park, a tremendous showing for opening night. When he plucked out the first notes of Breezin, just like that, a breeze blew in from the water.

That said, there's a growing trend of territorial angst when the jazz festival gets that crowded. Verbal skirmishes broke out right and left, as a disturbing number of people were more interested in protecting their patch of turf than the show. Chill out, folks. It's free.

Anyway, it was hard to stay surly once Benson turned the park into a giant grooving dance floor. Originally produced by Quincy Jones, Give Me the Night was a hip-thrusting special, and Benson played that guitar until rivulets of sweat ran down his face. He gave them the night - and they gave him a standing ovation.

[Last modified October 19, 2007, 01:34:54]