George Benson's Concert

By: Natasa Tepavcevic

Belgrade, July 25, (Serbia Today) - On July 23, Sava Center Concert Hall and Belgrade’s jazz lovers had a great honor to host one of the greatest guitarists in jazz history-George Benson. The concert started at 9 PM and lasted more than two hours. Benson showed charismatic and explosive energy, so audience followed him with long applauses and calls for more and more.
The entire hall was dancing with Benson’s well-known hits. It was so amazing to share that energy with different people, and see them so excited and happy. Old jazz experts, old fans of “real” jazz, and young jazz lovers were clapping hands all the time during the concert. Fusion of energy was something that everyone will remember. Reflection of Benson’s bend on audience looked like real live happening, which is possible just with an honest audience like the one in Belgrade.
Benson officially opened the concert, as well as the hearts of the audience, with greeting words to Belgrade and its lovely people. He expressed honest happiness about his visit to Belgrade. Bass guitarist from his band invited people to stand up and human and music connection started just like that, in one explosion of verves from both sides.
George Benson is simply one of the greatest guitarists in jazz history, but he is also an amazingly versatile musician, and that frustrates to no end critics who would paint him into a narrow bop box. He can play in just about any style -- from swing to bop to R&B to pop -- with supreme taste, a beautiful rounded tone, terrific speed, a marvelous sense of logic in building solos, and, always, an unquenchable urge to swing. His inspirations may have been Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery -- and he can do dead-on impressions of both -- but his style is completely his own.