‘Jazz music is going to be around a long, long time’

American musical legend George Benson looks back at his storied career ahead of Scots show

GEORGE Benson has scored number ones, played with musical greats such as Miles Davis, Minnie Riperton and Stevie Wonder, and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

But at the moment, the 78-year-old pioneering jazz-soul guitarist and singer cares about one thing and one thing only: getting back on the road.

“I started travelling when I was 19-years-old,” he explains from Paradise Valley in Arizona.

“It’s been go, go, go. But it’s been the most interesting thing because I got a chance to see the different parts of the world and experience different kinds of music, different attitudes.”

Benson tells me he found being grounded for the last two years challenging. But in June, he will return for a UK tour which includes a show at the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, on Friday June 24.

The same weekend he plays London’s Royal Albert Hall. Such a prestigious venue is no big deal for Benson, who has ample experience performing in both shoebox jazz clubs and vast stadiums.

“Not only is it a very sophisticated hall for all kinds of sophisticated uses, but the average people, the music industry people, normal people that you bump into every day – they love going to the Royal Albert Hall,” he says with audible excitement.

“For me it’s like a second home, musically speaking, that is.”

Across his six-decade career, Benson has gone from playing the ukelele in his native Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to traversing pop, rock, funk, disco, soul and jazz.

This chameleonic streak has seen him perform in many different settings.

“I have played all sorts of venues – Carnegie Hall, they got two more gigantic halls in New York City, we have played all of them.

“We played the Blue Note, we played Birdland, the Village Vanguard, and the Village Gate over the years.

“Each one is a lesson because you have to relate to people on a different scale.”

Benson is a sprightly conversationalist with an infectious laugh and, unsurprisingly, has a catalogue of fantastic stories at his disposal.

His biggest concert came in 1985 at Rock In Rio festival, where he says he played to a quarter of a million fans.

An estimated 1.4 million people attended the 10-day-long festival, which had Iron Maiden, AC/DC and Yes among its line-up.

“I had never played in Brazil before that so I was playing to different audiences.

“Matter of fact, they were protesting me at the airport. And because I didn’t understand the language, I didn’t know they were protesting me.

“So my manager beat us out the back way of the airport, the limo took me to the hotel and there were hundreds of people in front of the hotel protesting me. I thought they were welcoming me because that concert was already sold out – 350,000 tickets gone. So I’m thinking, ‘These got to be my fans here’. They told me later they were protestors.

“The concert was called Rock in Rio and they had the top rock bands in the world – some of them. Whitesnake and people like that. And we were not rock people. So that’s what they were protesting.

“But when we were finished with the show, they were downstairs screaming their heads off, ‘George Benson!’”

His manager at the time explained the protestors’ volte-face: he had featured Brazilian musicians in his show.

“I had a 30 or 60-piece orchestra – I can’t remember now – and I used Ivan Lins, who was a local star, and he had been on my album Give Me The Night,” he recalls.

There are great bands that put music out there that captures your imagination

“He was a pleasurable guy and could write some fantastic songs. So we had a great time on the show.”

Give Me The Night, the international smash hit released in June 1980 that gave its name to the album, remains Benson’s calling card.

Benson tells me he was initially unsure about the vocal delivery superproducer Quincy Jones coaxed out of him in the studio.

Until his young son heard the track, that is.

“The great one was when Quincy Jones sent me a test pressing for Give Me The Night,” he reflects. He sent it to my home in Hawaii.

“I took it out and I was worried about the new vocal he made me perform on it, because he wanted attitude. He wanted one of those crazy vocals. After I played a few times I got comfortable with it, I said, ‘It’s not so bad, the vocal is okay’.

“My 10-year-old song walked over to me and said, ‘Dad, can you put that song on that goes alright, tonight?’ and I knew this was going to be gigantic.”

Musicians often have complicated relationships with their biggest songs – but not Benson.

“I promised myself many years ago that if ever got a hit record I was not going to rob the people,” he offers.”I was going to play that hit because it was a hit because of them.

“They fell in love with it and made it a hit. I struck a good note with them and that was valuable.

“So I promised myself. And I came to that conclusion because a lot of my friends in the music business had hit records over the years, and they would not play their hit record.”

Putting on an entertaining imitation of a stroppy star, he adds: “I’m tired of playing that song... I’m not playing it no more!”

In recent years, Benson has bolstered his own output by collaborating with contemporary stars such as Mary J Blige and Gorillaz. He credits his children with keeping him in the know.

“The good thing about my life is that my sons are in that category you were talking about just now,” he says when asked about his motivations.

“They bring the new music into the house with them. They don’t care very much for my music because they have heard it all their lives. It is not new for them. But they keep me informed on everything going on in the streets.”

At his core, Benson remains a jazz guitarist and has high hopes for the future of the genre. Does he think the popularity of the genre will ever fade?

“I don’t fear that,” he says with confidence. “Jazz music is like classical music. It’s going to be around a long, long time. There are so many creative people with great stories and great ways of telling those stories, both instrumentally and vocally.

“There are great bands that put music out there that captures your imagination and makes you jump up and down and dance. Jazz is not going anywhere.”

George Benson plays the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow on Friday June 24. See www. georgebenson.com

George Benson has worked with contemporary stars such as Mary J Blige and Gorillaz recently