First Listen: George Benson “Cruises” into another live weekend

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Photo credit: Carl Hyde

(September 4, 2020) It has been more than four decades since George Benson solidified his status as a soul/jazz leader with his platinum concert album Weekend In L.A., which is still in active rotation in my house. Even though he has already accomplished two lifetimes’ worth as a world class musician and singer, Benson shows no signs of slowing down at age 76, and will be releasing another live album this Fall, called Weekend in London, a sequel of sorts to his 70s masterpiece

We already heard the new live version of the Donny Hathaway classic, “The Ghetto,” and now Benson has given us another sneak peek from the new disc, with a tasty live performance of his 1998 release, “Cruise Control.”

The band is able to stretch out and improvise on the hot new version, and Benson’s scatting vocals simply sound great. This is the kind of jam we’ll be playing on a Friday night with the windows open, and we think SoulTrackers will dig it too.

Check out “Cruise Control,” and get ready to hear George Benson’s fun new Weekend, coming soon.

By Chris Rizik

George Benson – “Cruise Control (Live)”

Video

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