For George Benson, a rare return to his AC roots
It was early, maybe 3 in the morning, and things were just starting to percolate at KY and the Curb, the epicenter of Atlantic City cool, commonly known as Kentucky Avenue to the hip-challenged.
Down at the old Wonder Garden, Brother Jack McDuff's quartet had just wrapped up its final set of the evening. His young guitarist was already breezin' out the door even as the last notes of the last song were still lingering in the air with the pale blue haze of cigarette smoke.
The kid was heading down the street to a little watering hole called Grace's Little Belmont, just across from that entertainment shrine known as the Club Harlem.
Grace's barkeep, Elvera "Baby" Sanchez - the mother of Sammy Davis, Jr. - had already poured a couple of rounds for McDuff's guitarist - an upstart kid from Pittsburgh named George Benson - and jazz organist Charlie Earland.
School was in session.
Those are the memories that flood Benson's mind on those rare occasions when he has an Atlantic City casino gig, like the one-nighter he'll play Saturday in the ballroom at Boardwalk Hall.
"Oh, man, Grace's was where I taught Charlie Earland chord changes," Benson recalls like it was yesterday instead of more than 40 years ago.
"See, Charlie, he played by ear, just like me," Benson tells Atlantic City Weekly. "Only thing is, my ear was a little more finely tuned for harmonies. Charlie, he had a gift for rhythm. So he helped me with rhythms and I helped him out on the melodies."
When class ended around 4am, Benson remembers soaking up the music that drifted into the street from the front bar of the Harlem.
If jazz saxophonist Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson's band was featured, Benson remembers, Jackson's solos carried through the walls and front door of the club, along with some blazing guitar licks by teenaged Philadelphia jazz guitar phenom Pat Martino. They flooded Kentucky Avenue with music until dawn broke over the Boardwalk.
"Those were some very special days," Benson says with a happy and nostalgic sigh. "We had a lot of fun every time we worked Atlantic City."
He still does.
Although years sometimes pass between casino gigs, Benson says he can always count on two things when he plays Atlantic City: A full house, and an appreciative audience. The city may have changed dramatically since his earliest gigs here, but the response to him and his music remains the same.
"I get a lot of love in Atlantic City," he says.
While he enjoys reminiscing, it's clear that Benson, 62, isn't living in the past. He's very much on top of contemporary musical trends and styles, having contributed as a guest instrumentalist on Mary J. Blige's hit ballad "Seven Days" and on acid jazz band Nuyorican Soul's "You Can Do It (Baby)."
For as long as he's been a recording artist, Benson has enjoyed surprising his audiences with his own music or with his collaborations with other artists. He refuses to be typecast as a particular type of musician, or, in the case of his 1976 album Breezin', as a singer.
"People were expecting me to do nothing but one [instrumental] song after another with a few thousand notes per second," he recalls with a laugh. "But then we snuck 'This Masquerade' in there."
Released as a single, the jazz and R&B crossover vocal tune shot to the top of the contemporary music charts and firmly established Benson as both a guitarist and a singer.
"What a lot of people don't realize about the song is that it's basically the exact same chords and changes as [the saloon ballad] 'Angel Eyes,'" he explains. "That's one of the reasons why jazz musicians love to play that song."
Bell on opening up for Van Halen, new music and video projects, his mid-'60s band the Jazziacs, which played Atlantic City's jazz clubs at the time, and his legendary Godfather.
Article:
A ‘Taste’ of Maroon 5
Article:
Florence's Fine Tuned Machine
Article:
Atlantic City Weekend: Impressive Lineup
Article:
Golden Vibes: Beach Boys Celebrate 50 Years
at Borgata
Article:
Sonny Fortune: Still Chasing the Trane
Article:
Black Keys in Atlantic City: Rock & Revel
Article:
First Bartender Awards
Nominees Announced!
Article:
Queens For A Year
1. Anonymous said... on Feb 1, 2012 at 11:15PM
“The little Belmont was indeed a wonderful place. I spent time as a youngster there with my father Milton Satchell people seem to have forgotten. He played the Hammond organ there for many years. History can be cruel. I am surprised that the Public Library conveniently provided information that seems to make the city, look good.
Milton was born in Atlantic City and began playing the piano at the age of two. I knew Ms Baby Sanchezand met Sammy Davis, Jr. Count Basie and other famous people. However, I didn!'t know them for their fame but as friends of my Father.
Milton though he was found of the " drink", was a wonderful musician,playing the organ and the piano,not only at Grace's Little Belmont but at churches and clubs and resturants around Atlantic City and off shore.”