George Benson - Beyond the Blue Horizon

This is a great George Benson album, from the time before he became really poppy, and before he started singing. This is the album cover that I have, although it appears there is a different cover (this may be because the one I have is stamped Demonstration Not For Sale on the back)

This is the other cover (more common?):

Kinda like Gary, Indiana?

Side one has a cool version of "So What." It is funky in a Jack Dejohnette kinda way, which is to say it's not as down and dirty as the Isley Bros.* Ron Carter channels Scotty Lafaro with a bass part reminiscent of "W.R.U." by Ornette. The other song on side one, "The Gentle Rain," is a Bossa reminiscent of "Besame Mucho." There is an instrument throughout this album that sounds like a fiddle playing a tremolo sliding up and down, and I can't figure out what exactly it is (is it Benson on his guitar... nope I'm hearing it while Benson is improvising... It could be electronic, almost like a theremin?) There is no credit for violinist on the back...

Side two is actually my favorite side of this album (this album is so good, but I often overlook it.) And side two has this weird fiddle thing going on throughout (I'm going to feel like an idiot when I find out that the sound is probably not a fiddle at all. There are two percussionists listed in the credits: Michael Cameron and Albert Nicholson, could it be percussion? electric cuica?) "All Clear" has a feel good groove to it. The head sounds very much like "Grazing in the Grass" but a little more uptempo. This is happy music :) 

"Ode to a Kudu"... I think I read an interesting anecdote about this song in a guitar magazine. Benson said that this random dude came up to him and showed him an alternate tuning on guitar, but the trick was to play the guitar just the way you normally would and it will sound exotic. Maybe it was about the next song, "Somewhere in the East..." "Ode to a Kudu" is such a reflective melody, in a way reminiscent of Miles' "In a Silent Way." This is good, mellow music. *CUE NEIL YOUNG: BAYBE MELLOW MY MIND OUT...* Anyways... "Kudu" is really a beautiful song.

"Somewhere in the East" sounds like a quasi Eastern/tribal jam. Great conga playing. Weird sound effects from Benson on guitar (This time I'm sure it's Benson). I love how Ron Carter harmonizes with Benson's guitar melody (way up in the high register on his bass) The only regret is that it kinda trails off at the end

I don't think my words can do justice to how good "Kudu" and "Somewhere in the East" are. Here are some vids to check out the tunes in all their splendid glory:

I give this record 150 out of 5 stars. So good.

*I maybe should have compared Apples to Apples. Here is a down and dirty CTI track with Ron Carter, but Billy Cobham is laying down the down and dirty funk on drums: Milt Jackson - People Make The World Go Round