Creed Taylor founded the jazz label CTI Records in 1970. The records, and they were records at the time, had a classy look about them. Not quite standardized, but certainly graphically linked. Often the 12″ers had wrap-around photos by Pete Turner, and design by Bob Ciano. They might not be photographs of the artist, maybe a mood setting shot of a sunset or a beach, or it could be a moody picture of the artist’s instrument with his profile behind. Anyway, you could spot a CTI Record from across the store. The sound was also something special. These were modern recordings, which used the latest technology and sounded beautiful. And the artists…Don Sebesky, Deodato, Stanley Turrentine, and the two players at hand today. Only the best.
George Benson’s Beyond the Blue Horizonwas released in 1971. This is well before Benson crossed over to become a crooner, and MOR star. He was a jazz player, an instrumentalist. He followed in the footsteps of Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery bringing the guitar to jazz. His single note leads are as imaginative as Miles Davis’s trumpet, and it’s with Miles that this album begins. Nine minutes of Davis’s “So What” starts off with Clarence Palmer’s organ until Benson comes in from the horizon with what might seem startlingly good guitar playing (especially to someone who is only familiar with his pop recordings). Benson is a monster guitarist! The rhythm section is dynamite too, Ron Carter on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums and percussion by Michael Cameron and Albert Nicholson. It’s a superstar session. And the biggest star of them all is George Benson, playing not just single notes but octaves and chords.
The title is a bit misleading, as the tune by Whiting, Harling and Robin doesn’t appear. Instead we get music by Davis, “The Gentle Rain” by Luiz Bonfa and three tracks composed by Benson. (This re-issued CD adds three alternate takes of the Benson composed tunes.) We don’t get “Beyond the Blue Horizon” but the music comes from out there…”somewhere in the east” (one of the Benson tracks). It floats in, and grabs you and never lets you go.
Benson also stars on a second CTI 40th Anniversary re-issue, Freddie Hubbard’s ’71 album First Light. This album features the same rhythm section as Benson’s but has a much expanded team of supporters. Besides DeJohnette and Carter there’s Richard Wyands (piano), Phil Kraus (vibes), Hubert Laws (flute), and a dozen more horn and string players. The tracks are never over full though. It’s very much a showcase for Hubbard’s trumpet and flugelhorn. He is very controlled, playing in and around the melody and then soaring off as the orchestra keeps the foundation firm. After a dozen minutes of the self-composed title track Hubbard takes on the pop melodies of Paul (& Linda) McCartney with a take on “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”. The shared leads with Benson are melodic and exploratory. Hubbard finds the whimsey that is inherent in this McCartney piece while treating the whole composition as a serious piece of music with different movements. Some nice blowing here.
Other composers covered here are Henry Mancini, Don Sebesky, Comden & Green and Cedar Walton. The Walton tune is one of two bonus tracks. The second bonus track is a live cut of “First Light” which stretches the soloing out for another five minutes on top of the studio version.
Forty years of CTI Records. I can hardly believe it. Sony Masterworks is celebrating this anniversary with a whole series of special releases. These are just two of this vast repertoire. Stay tuned for more reviews from this marvelous birthday collection.
(Both Sony Masterworks, 2011, orig. CTI Records, 1971)
Now I have to add these two to my wish list. I am thinking about George Benson today because this morning my local jazz radio station, KMHD, played “California Dreamin’ ” from George’s White Rabbit album. That album was just at the cusp of when Benson started to tip over into MOR, but it’s a wonderful work of jazz, with many of the CTI stars you mention here, David. I used to have it on vinyl, but these remasters sound almost as good.