It is his debut on Warner Bros. Records. It not only was a chart topper in the Jazz category but also went to #1 on the pop and R&B charts.
It was certified triple platinum, making it one of the best selling Jazz albums of all time.
Breezin' marked the beginning of Benson's most successful period commercially, topping the Billboard Pop, Jazz and R&B album charts. It spun off two hit singles, the title song (which has become a fusion jazz standard) and "This Masquerade," which was a top ten pop and R&B hit. The album has since been certified as 3X multi-Platinum by the RIAA.
The album garnered multiple nominations and awards at the 19th Annual Grammy Awards. The album won the awards Best Pop Instrumental Performance for Benson and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Al Schmitt and was nominated as Album of the Year for Tommy LiPuma and Benson. "This Masquerade" received the award Record of the Year for LiPuma and Benson, while it was nominated as Song of the Year for Leon Russell and as Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male for Benson.
All of a sudden, George Benson became a pop superstar with this album, thanks to its least representative track. Most of Breezin' is a softer-focused variation of Benson's R&B/jazz-flavored CTI work, his guitar as assured and fluid as ever with Claus Ogerman providing the suave orchestral backdrops and his crack then-working band (including Ronnie Foster on keyboards and sparkplug Phil Upchurch on rhythm guitar) pumping up the funk element.
Yet it is the sole vocal track (his first in many years), Leon Russell's "This Masquerade" -- where George unveiled his new trademark, scatting along with a single-string guitar solo -- that reached number ten on the pop singles chart and drove the album all the way to number one on the pop (!) LP chart.
The attractive title track also became a minor hit single, although Gabor Szabo's 1971 recording with composer Bobby Womack is even more fetching. In the greater scheme of Benson's career, Breezin' is really not so much a breakthrough as it is a transition album; the guitar is still the core of his identity.
Side A
A1. Breezin’ - 5:40
A2. This Masquerade - 8:03
A3. Six To Four - 5:06
Side B
B1. Affirmation - 7:01
B2. So This Is Love? - 7:03
B3. Lady - 5:49
Personnel
- George Benson – guitar, vocals
- Jorge Dalto – acoustic piano, clavinet, acoustic piano solo
- Ronnie Foster – electric piano, Minimoog synthesizer, Minimoog solo, electric piano solo
- Phil Upchurch – rhythm guitar, bass
- Stanley Banks – bass
- Harvey Mason – drums
- Ralph MacDonald – percussion
- Claus Ogerman – arrangements and conductor
Production
- Tommy LiPuma – producer
- Noel Newbolt – associate producer
- Al Schmitt – recording, mixing
- Don Henderson – assistant engineer
- Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California).
- Ed Thrasher – art direction
- Robert Lockhart – art direction
- Peter Palombi – design
- Mario Casilli – photography
Notes
Release: 1976
Format: LP
Genre: Jazz Soul, Smooth Jazz
Label: Warner Bros.
Catalog# WB 56 199
Vinyl: Goed
Hoes: Goed
Prijs: €6,99
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