[TR24][OF] George Benson - Bad Benson - 1974/2016 (Crossover Jazz)

Preceding Breezin', his crossover smash for Warner in 1976, Bad Benson shows the guitarist still hanging on to his Wes Montgomery roots in places while stretching his soul-jazz persona into even funkier arenas. CTI had a formula for making funky, accessible jazz and fusion records that in 1974 still held true. Arranged by Don Sebesky, Bad Benson is a collection of delicious, varied, and sometimes confusing choices. Benson's own playing is precise and smooth as always, and guitarist Phil Upchurch keeps a large color palette for him to draw from, as in the funkified version of "Take Five." Other notables are the stellar "My Latin Brother," which begins as a Debussy-ian impressionistic string study before becoming a heavily arpeggiated variation on the samba. Kenny Barron's pianism here is the driving force behind a rhythm section that also includes drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Ron Carter. They give Benson a harmonic floor for one of the most inspiring solos of his career. These intensely meaty cuts -- along with Upchurch's stellar swinging in the pocket groover "Full Compass" -- are juxtaposed against ballads such as "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" and "The Changing World," a pair of ballads that ape Montgomery's later snore-fest session for A&M. Not a great album, but a very, very good one.

foobar2000 1.3.9 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-10-31 23:58:37
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Analyzed: George Benson / Bad Benson
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DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
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DR12      -0.10 dB   -14.11 dB      7:10 01-Take Five
DR12      -0.90 dB   -16.88 dB      3:00 02-Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
DR12      -0.10 dB   -13.66 dB      6:54 03-My Latin Brother
DR10      -0.10 dB   -12.23 dB      6:01 04-No Sooner Said Than Done
DR12      -0.10 dB   -13.82 dB      5:44 05-Full Compass
DR11      -0.10 dB   -14.18 dB      4:55 06-The Changing World
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Number of tracks:  6
Official DR value: DR12
Samplerate:        192000 Hz
Channels:          2
Bits per sample:   24
Bitrate:           5191 kbps
Codec:             FLAC
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