Irreplaceable

Personnel include: George Benson (vocals, electric guitar); Chyna, Nakiea (vocals); Joshua P. Thompson (acoustic guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, bass instrument, programming); Rex Rideout (keyboards, programming); Herman Jackson, Bobby Douglas (keyboards); Richard Bona (bass instrument, background vocals); Roberto Vally (bass instrument); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion).

Recording information: Avatar, New York, New York (2004); Funky Joint, Sherman Oaks, California (2004); Porcupine, Phoenix, Arizona (2004); Tallest Tree, West Orange, New Jersey (2004).

In the public eye as a recording artist since the early 1960s, guitarist/vocalist George Benson is arguably the man who injected the "smooth" into smooth jazz. IRREPLACEABLE artfully treads the border between contemporary R&B and smooth jazz, thanks in no small part to producer/songwriter Joshua Paul Thompson. A couple of factors set the more mature Benson's work apart from the pack of teens and twentysomethings crowding the jazz-tinged R&B field. Benson takes his vocal cues from the classic models of Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke, with a healthy dash of Stevie Wonder, leaving the histrionics for others to negotiate at their own risk. But, of course, Benson most clearly puts his mark on the album with his sui generis fretwork. Certainly the tracks groove like great R&B should, but on the tunes "Take You Out," "Missing You," and the standard "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise," Benson's alternately blistering and sensual guitar lines grace the proceedings with a resonating lyricism.

What the critics say…

Mojo (Publisher) (12/03, p.120) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The best track is the richly harmonious 'Cell Phone'….'Six Play' and 'Whole Man' also impress on an album that will surprise many."