Dear citizens of guitardom, you & I know who George Benson is; the guitar sage whose immense talent, tasteful interpretation of contemporary pop tunes (no surprises he covered The Beatles & Diana Krall in this one) & that soulful voice leaving us novice noodlers in utter shame upon reflection of our below-par capacity. This time, the Ibanez man dwelt much in the guitar per se, not that it was secondary to him all along, but the guitar focus in this release was there for the taking; they make joyful listening to say the least. I chose to buy this album albeit not being a big fan for a simple reason- it inspires me to play the guitar. To many of us guitar geeks, impressionable music means being over-awed by instrument technicalities but gentlemen like George Benson, Joe Pass (RIP) & Pat Metheny, among others, leave an impression of a different kind; it's about touching the soul with guitar mastery. I often listen to Guitar Man after a round of brutal guitar music just to test myself, not in terms of resilience, but as proof that appealing music could be juxtaposed with an alternative of great contrast while still retaining that draw. I wish more of George Benson's releases would be of this ilk but an artist should be in total command of his music, satiating the masses shouldn't be the cause for concern.
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