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| The
1st Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards will pay tribute to one of the biggest pioneers
in the Smooth Jazz genre - George Benson. The guitar legend will be honoured with
a Lifetime Achievement award. Each subsequent year a different trendsetter in
the world of Smooth Jazz will receive the same award. | |
 |
 The
Quotes | The
Stories | | Read
what George Benson's Colleagues and friends are saying. More | Everyone
has at least one good George Benson story. We asked the Smooth Jazz world to share
theirs. More |
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| Buy
an Album | Radio
Says Thanks | | Complete
your Benson collection with the help of Amazon.com. Purchase
an album here | Where
would Smooth Jazz radio be without Benson? The top broadcasters say thanks to
George. More |
|
| | George
Benson Biography:
From jazz guitar legend to soul-pop vocalist extraordinaire, 8-time Grammy®
winner George Benson has cultivated an international fan base as well as tremendous
critical acclaim for three things: incomparable versatility, first-class execution
in all he does and, perhaps most importantly, for never being predictable. These
are the qualities that have made the man a one-of-a-kind giant in the universe
of music, thus lending a fitting ring to the title of his fourth album for GRP/Verve,
Irreplaceable. It is an emotional gemstone of seemingly effortless consistency
for the superstar who has been dominating the worlds of smooth jazz and NAC radio.
Irreplaceable marks a directional shift back to silky sexy soul music…with a decidedly
contemporary urban edge. “I’m just trying to wake some people up,” Benson says
with the confident patois of a Pittsburgh hipster, “give them something that they
wouldn’t expect. More |
|
 "If
more of today's Smooth Jazz sounded like the great songs and amazing playing on
George's "Breezin'" album, the format would be a whole lot cooler!"
- Grant Geissman
|  "George
Benson has not only created some of the finest music in the world, he continues
to bring people of varying global cultures together to share in it’s healing power,
to listen and to learn. Thank you George, the more you play the more we understand
that we are one." -
Cameron Smith - Smooth Jazz TV |  "I
hate always going back to the big one because Benson has put out so many, and
so much, but I can't ever forget the moment that "Breezin" rolled In
to my first real radio gig. I was programming an automated soft rocker in Salem,
Oregon and that song began rolling round that reel to reel and we just kept increasing
its rotation and then increasing its rotation some more."
- Art Good - JazzTrax |
 "I
was always a fan of George Benson especially his guitar work. Then he came out
with "This Masquerade" and I was blown away... what a voice! But most
of all, I admire his musical integrity. He stayed true to his music and it paid
off in a big way."
- Alfie Zappacosta |  "I
used to listen to George Benson's early records for hours, sometimes slowing down
the record so I could learn his fast flowing jazz lines. I only met him once backstage
in 1977 when I was with Jean-Luc Ponty. He is a great guitar player and true gentlemen!"
- Daryl Stuermer |  "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 |
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