Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards

George Benson - Shape Of Things To Come
CTI

1 Footin' It
2 Face It Boy, It's Over
3 Shape of Things to Come
4 Chattanooga Choo Choo
5 Don't Let Me Lose This Dream
6 Shape of Things That Are and Were
7 Last Train to Clarksville

Originally released on LP by CTI

"What Creed Taylor did was very important because it was Jazz from a fresh point of view. He had some young players like Freddie Hubbard, Hupert Laws, Stanley Turitine and Grover Washington Jr. These guys all had great energy when they played so they gave it a freshness that hadn't been seen in a while. Remember we were coming from the birth of the cool which was Miles Davis' invention and people would be sitting down with dark glasses on in a nightclub and if they weren't puffing on a reefer they were pretending to be puffing on a reefer. (laughing) With CTI we were bringing Jazz back out to the foot stomping stage where people tap their feet to the music and perhaps actually getting up to dance. So it was a fresh approach and during that era we did concerts together and we went out with a CTI package. I think it was called a CTI spectacular or something and we had crowds that went crazy when we played and that's what I thought music was all about. It should do that! I played with that kind of conviction every time I picked up my instrument. It was about making a connection to communicate not to just give them a whole lot of notes or playing to people who might be half out of their minds. (laughing)" - George Benson (read the interview)

Album Credits :
Dave Mankovitz Viola
George Marge Flute
Leo Morris Drums
Romeo Penque Flute
Alan Raph Trombone (Valve), Tuba
George Ricci Cello
Joseph J. Shepley Flugelhorn, Trumpet
John Snyder Digital Mastering
Creed Taylor Producer
Stanley Webb Flute
Joe Shepley Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Pete Turner Photography
Sam Antupit Design
Wayne Andre Sax (Baritone), Trombone
Burt Collins Trumpet
Charles Covington Organ
Don Sebesky Arranger, Conductor
Bernard Eichen Violin
Rudy Van Gelder Engineer, Digital Mastering
Jack Jennings Vibraphone, Percussion
Charles Libove Violin
Buddy Lucas Harmonica (Amplified), Sax (Tenor), Harmonica
Johnny Pacheco Conga
George Benson Vocals, Main Performer, ?, Guitar
Ron Carter Bass
Richard Davis Bass
Herbie Hancock Piano
Hank Jones Piano
Marvin Stamm Flugelhorn, Piccolo, Trumpet

"George Benson's importance and stature as a jazz guitarist is also often overlooked or overshadowed by his tremendous talent as a vocalist, although most certainly shouldn't be." - Chuck Loeb