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BiographyEarly careerBenson was born and raised in the Hill District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended the Connelly High School before dropping out. Benson got his first experience playing straight-ahead instrumental jazz in a several-year stint with organist Jack McDuff. At the age of 21, he recorded his first album as leader, The New Boss Guitar, featuring McDuff.
Miles Davis employed Benson in the mid 1960s, featuring his guitar on "Paraphernalia" on his 1967 Columbia release, Miles in the Sky. Benson went to Verve Records afterwards. Then, Creed Taylor signed him up for his CTI label, where he recorded numerous albums with jazz heavyweights guesting to limited financial success. Benson also did a version of The Beatles's 1969 album Abbey Road called The Other Side of Abbey Road, also released in 1969, and a version of "White Rabbit", originally written and recorded by San Francisco rock group Jefferson Airplane, around this time.
1970s and 1980s
By the mid to late 1970s, as he recorded for Warner Bros
. Records, a whole new audience began to discover Benson for the first time. With the 1976 release ''Breezin', Benson began to put his vocal on tracks such as "This Masquerade". He had used his vocals on songs earlier in his career, notably his rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" on the Other Side of Abbey Road'' album. He was part of psychedelic soul group Harlem Underground Band during the 1970s, whose song "Smokin' Cheeba Cheeba" was featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.[Breezin album information]
Benson toured with soul singer, Minnie Riperton, in 1976. Riperton had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer earlier that year. "This Masquerade" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the live take of "On Broadway", recorded two years later from the 1978 release Weekend in L.A., also won a Grammy. Benson made it into the pop and R&B top ten with the song "Give Me the Night", produced by Quincy Jones. On Warner Bros., Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold albums.[VH1 - Artists bio]
He also recorded the original version of "Greatest Love of All" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali bio-pic, The Greatest, which was later recorded as a cover by Whitney Houston.
Later and current careerIn 1985 Benson and guitarist Chet Atkins went on the smooth jazz charts with their collaboration "Sunrise", one of two songs from the duo released on Atkins' disc Stay Tuned. In 1992, Benson appeared on Jack McDuff's Colour Me Blue album. Benson toured with Al Jarreau in America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to promote their 2006 album ''Givin' It Up''. He played during the second Monsoon Cup in Terengganu in 2006 and also Malaysia's 50th Merdeka celebration alongside Jarreau in 2007.Citation needed
To commemorate the long term relationship between Benson and Ibanez and to celebrate 30 years of collaboration on the GB Signature Models, Ibanez created the GB30TH, a very limited edition model featuring a gold foil finish inspired by the traditional Japanese Garahuku art form. In 2009, Benson was recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as a Jazz Master, the nations highest honor in Jazz. Benson performed at the 49th issue of The Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia on July 25, 2009, and his tribute show to Nat King Cole "An Unforgettable Tribute to Nat King Cole" as part of the Istanbul International Jazz Festival in Turkey on July 27. In the fall of 2009, Benson finished recording a new album titled Songs and Stories, with Marcus Miller, Concord Music Group EVP A&R and producer John Burk, David Paich and Steve Lukather of Toto. As a part of the promotion for his recent Concord Music Group/Monster Music release Songs and Stories, Benson has appeared and/or performed on The Tavis Smiley Show , Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
He is currently touring and performing in support of his recent release Songs and Stories (Concord Music Group/Monster Music.
Benson will tour throughout 2010 in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim.
DiscographyAlbumsSingles
Copyright Citations
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