Now playing some sweet Soul, R&B and Funk

dabassgoesboomboom · November 21, 2020, 2:19pm

This is a great interview: https://tidal.com/magazine/article/qa-george-benson/1-75400

Joints Benshin !

"You got together with Quincy Jones for Give Me the Night .

I always knew that I was gonna do something with Quincy; we just didn’t know when or where it was gonna happen. And so it finally happened in 1980. He asked me one question. He said, “George, do you want to make the greatest jazz record in the world, or do you wanna go for the throat?” And with the success he was having with Michael Jackson, and me now being considered a vocalist, I laughed lightly; I said, “Man, go for the throat!” [ laughs ] And he laughed, too.

So he brought his A-team out, as he called them: [keyboardist] Greg Phillinganes, [drummer] JR, John Robinson, and whoever else was on that team. And his top writer, Rod Temperton. Mannn , what a formula that was, from top to bottom. We were in the studio just about every night for a month. I just finished the album, and I woke up, I was getting ready to go to the airport, and Quincy called. He said, “George, you can’t go home, man.” I said, “What do you mean I can’t go home, man?” I said, “Quincy, I been in the studio every day for a month with you.” I said, “You mean to tell me we’re not finished?” He said, “Rod Temperton wrote one more song, man. He thinks this song is gonna be important in this album.” I said, “Man, no, no. I ain’t got the energy.” He said, “George, it won’t take that long. We’ll have everything ready to go when you get there; you just go jump in the studio and do your part.”

I said, “Man, Q” — that’s what we called him, Q, and he called me “Joints Benshin.” Every night, when I came over to pick him up and take him to the studio by car, his daughter — she was only 5 then, her name is Kidada — she said, “Dad, is Joints Benshin coming over tonight?” [ laughs ] And so Quincy’s been calling me that ever since, man: “Hey, Joints.” He said that made her so sad, ’cause she knew she wasn’t gonna see him no more that night if Joints Benshin came over.

So I went in the studio, and the song was “Give Me the Night.” We had Lee Ritenour playing that line with me. He did an octave below or an octave above [ sings the guitar part ], and man, he got off to an incredible start. It was a tricky tune. Didn’t know what category it was in. I didn’t even try that. And here was the key: A few weeks later, Q sent me a test pressing of the album, and he had already tricked me into using this strange voice. He heard me messing with it that day. When I got tired, I started going to my little Mickey Mouse voice: [ sings ] “Whenever dark has fallen.” He said, “Could you put one down like that?” I said, “No, man. No way in the world. ’Cause I know you, Q, you’ll put that on the record.” He said, “Nah, I’m not gonna put it on the record. I just wanna hear it.”

You know I knew better, right? When I got the demo at home in Hawaii a few weeks later, I put it on to see if he used that vocal and sure enough, he used the vocal. But here’s the kicker. After hearing it three or four times, I took it off. And my young son, who never, ever commented about my music, he came over to me and yanked on my pants. “Dad? Can you play that song that goes, ‘Alright tonight.’ Can you play that again for me?” I said, “Well, I will be doggone. I know this song’s gonna be big. My kids never ask me anything about music, ever.” When that happened, I knew I had something special on my hands."

dabassgoesboomboom · November 22, 2020, 8:52am

Concha Buika - a virtual experience at Luckman Fine Arts Complex

https://vimeo.com/481031473

dabassgoesboomboom · November 22, 2020, 9:08am

What a gorgeous track from his new album.

Now we finally have 2 albums from him, I hope a tour is on the cards next year !

RoonShareImage-637416616740092380

Grump · November 22, 2020, 6:04pm

They’re great live, and really nice too. It was the first concert I took my daughter (then sixteen) to. We had a chat with them afterwards and they were genuinely surprised to see she liked them too.

jb76 · December 1, 2020, 2:10am

https://i.imgur.com/Wyh45a5.png

jaguone · December 1, 2020, 9:18am

Don’t you just love this! Luther Vandross, composer and on production.
The soul/RnB around 1980 is just amazing!

jaguone · December 1, 2020, 9:50am

Dirty Loops has released a new EP. This is a fantastic track. These guys are extraordinary musicians! Check out the credits in the end

Just one more… Watch how these guys play together!

jaguone · December 5, 2020, 10:10am

Late Night Tales : Khruangbin, curated by the Texas Trio, is a palette of influences from all over the world! Thought I’d post it here for everyone who loves Khruangbin btw, it’s excellent!