Jazz guitarist George Benson's secret of success

Susan Whitall / The Detroit News

It would seem that one of the musicians who'd suffer the most from the demise of the smooth jazz radio format would be singer/guitarist George Benson, but that would be putting him in too narrow a box, stylistically.

Benson started out playing R&B guitar in his native Pittsburgh and became a pop-jazz superstar in the '70s. But in his 20s, he was going to be the next Wes Montgomery.

"They wanted somebody to fill that void, when Wes died, which I knew was impossible -- there's only one Wes Montgomery," Benson says. "He was one of the most sophisticated jazz guitarists in our history. His harmonies were played more like a piano player than a guitarist. I tried to copy his stuff, but he was too far ahead of me.

"It was an honor that people thought I was good enough," he says. "But I needed my own space. I practiced all the time, I still do. And I knew the things I was practicing would one day catch the ears of listeners, and it did with the album 'Breezin.' "

"Breezin," released in 1976, sparked the surge. The title track became a pop-jazz standard, and his bluesy rendition of Leon Russell's song "This Masquerade" was a Top 10 hit and won a Grammy. That decade also brought "Nature Boy," "On Broadway," "Give Me The Night," "Turn Your Love Around," and "Lady Love Me (One More Time)."

Benson, 66, grew up at a time when he could learn on the job, on bandstands and in clubs.

"There used to be a club on every corner, in major cities," he says. "Walking down the street, you could hear the music coming from the clubs, and it was inspirational. I played in the clubs, although I was a little illegal, at 15 years old...that's how I got good."

He also became a better player by "borrowing" from musicians he admired.

"I'm the poor man next door: 'Please, can I borrow a cup of sugar? I'll pay it back later,'" Benson teases.

What advice does he have for young musicians, in a world where live gigs are scarce?

"I would form my own band, that became the secret to my success, as a teenager," Benson says. "We rehearsed a lot and that made us special...The result of all that rehearsing, when 'Breezin" came out, I had one of the best bands in the world."

Benson has a new album out, "Songs and Stories" (Concord), which should please both serious jazz fans, and those who love his pop-jazz work. He duets with Lalah Hathaway on a bluesy new Bill Withers song, "A Telephone Call Away." How did he lure Withers out of retirement?

"We had to schmooze him. We took him to lunch," Benson says with a laugh. "We finally got around to asking him if he'd write something for our album. He said, 'I don't even know how to begin to do that, but if something comes up in my mind, I'll call you.' All we had to do was plant the seed."

Benson uses Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free" and James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" as templates for his expressive singing and peerless guitar.

The guitarist has fond memories of Detroit; he played weeklong gigs at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in the '70s.

"It was the key to a lot of careers," Benson says. "You had everybody there, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, all of the greats."

Benson loved Detroit radio; he would drive up and down Eight Mile just to listen to WCHB and WJZZ. "They had a great sound coming out of the radio, clear and clean and soulful."

swhitall@detnews.com (313) 222-2156