George Benson to release live album from London club
In July 2019, he was introduced at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club like this:
“You don’t get stars this big in rooms this small very often, ladies and gentlemen. Please be prepared to be dazzled: Mr. George Benson!”
On Nov. 13, we all get to hear how it went when the 77- year- old jazz icon from the Hill District releases the live album “Weekend in London.”
Benson and his band crowded onto the stage to play for about 250 people, breezing through a set list that included such pop/ R& B smashes as “Give Me the Night” and “Turn Your Love Around” along with his stunning cover of Donny Hathaway’s “The Ghetto” and Dave Bartholomew’s “I Hear You Knocking,” from his latest album, “Walking to New Orleans.”
“We don’t plan the show out in advance,” Benson said in a statement. “But we know there’s things we gotta play, and if you leave too many out, you’re in for a troubled night. We know what people have come to hear. So I’ve got half the battle won.”
Set list aside, Benson fans can expect a lot of free- flowing excursions during his set at Ronnie Scott’s, where the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, Van Morrison, Jeff Beck and Curtis Mayfield have all recorded live albums.
“Basically, the whole show is improvised except the melody itself and the ensemble playing,” Benson said. “We play the arrangements, to remind the audience what song they’re listening to, but then we can go crazy and do all the improvisation.”
Ronnie Scott’s dates back to 1959, when the British saxophonist opened the club in the Soho district. It played host to a 20- something Benson in the early ’ 70s before the Pittsburgher’s major breakout with “Breezin,” which, incidentally, is not on the set list.
Benson worked again with producer Kevin “The Caveman” Shirley, who produced 2019’ s “Walking to New Orleans” and whose credits include Led Zeppelin, Journey, Iron Maiden and Joe Bonamassa.
“We captured a lot of the atmosphere on ‘ Weekend in London,’” Shirley said. “It was very crowded, like it always is at Ronnie Scott’s, no matter who’s there. We were almost touching as we were playing, people all up on the bandstand. But I’m always happy to be in those surroundings. A lot of big Benson fans were there — and some of the screaming ladies. It was a fantastic night.”