George Benson
Beyond The Blue Horizon
CTI Masterworks
www.ctimasterworks.com

Freddie Hubbard
First Light
CTI Masterworks
www.ctimasterworks.com

Don Sebesky
Giant Box
CTI Masterworks
www.ctimasterworks.com

Stanley Turrentine
Salt Song
CTI Masterworks
www.ctimasterworks.com
By George W. Harris

Producer/arranger Creed Taylor did with his CTI label what no one has
done in the intervening 40 years-he made jazz that was both adventurous
and popular. Somehow, he created a sound with his collection of jazz
giants like Carter, Dejohnette, Cobham, Moreira, etc, mixed them with
strings and electric keyboards, and satisfied the palate of neophyte
and neocon alike. These four reissues (from the original tapes-yay!)
make perfect jazz seem so easy…

1) Before he was given the night, guitarist George Benson was on a
musical roll, with juicy releases like Shape Of Things To Come and The
Other Side Of Abbey Road from the late 60s. This 1971 session has
Benson teaming up with the tight little combo of Ron Carter/b, Jack
DeJohnette/dr, Clarence Palmer/org and a pair of percussionists. The
music includes a BURNING take of “So What” as well as an attractively
exotic third worldly atmospheric “Somewhere In The East.” Benson’s
guitar glows like a flamethrower on the melodious “Ode To A Kudo”
while the rhythm section gels like an Olympian relay team. Simply
stupendous.
2) Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard had 3 apotheotic releases for CTI, this is
the last of the trio. This session diverges from Red Clay and Straight
Life in that it includes Don Sebesky’s strings and woodwinds to the
similar team listed above, but with Richard Wyands/p replacing Palmer.
The title track has Hubbard creating sonic wonders with the added
sounds, while Hubie Laws gives him a run for his money with some cirrus flute playing. Meantime he continues his love affair with the Beatles by cranking
out a very clever reading of McCartney’s “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.”
A couple of bonus tracks include a live and cooking version of “First
Live” as well as an intriguingly lyrical take of Cedar Walton’s
“Fantasy In D.” Has any trumpeter in the intervening 40 years produced
anything better than this?
3) Don Sebesky is best known as the arranger for CTI records and
creator of that magical and ethereal sound that mixed woodwinds and
strings to romantic perfection. Here, he plays keyboards, and puts
together a collection of regulars (Bob James, Carter, Cobham,
DeJohnnette, Benson, Airto, Paul Desmond, Hubbard and Hubie Laws, et
al)for a stunningly ambitious and successful 1973 release. This release
is almost like a Whitman’s Sampler for jazz fans; you’ve got
classical-jazz fusion with an amazing mix of Stravinsky’s “Firebird”
with John McLaughlin’s “Birds Of Fire” to get the thing started, then
Desmond makes every other alto player sound stringent on a glowing
“Song To A Seagull.” For fans of the blowing session, Hubbard and
Grover Washington burn down the house on “Free As A Bird” which leads
to a lovely take of Psalm 150, letting “everything that has breath
praise the Lord,” which isn’t what music was originally for anyway?
Great overlooked gem.
4) Stanley Turrentine’s 1971 Salt Song followed his classic Sugar, and
it’s almost as good. His big, earthy and gospel-drenched tenor is
joined by regulars Carter, Moreira, Eric Gale/g, Horace Parlan-Eumir
Deodato-Richard Tee-key and various strings and woodwinds. He’s right
back home at church on the spiritual “I Told Jesus” while his handling
of the tricky driving track of Hubbard’s “Gibraltor” is handled like
Mario Andretti. The band sizzles liked grilled onions and peppers on
Milt Nascimento’s title track, with Turrentine’s horn swooping like an
eagle on this one and the bonus track of “Vera Cruz.” There are few other tenor players I’d rather listen to, day after day, than the Sugar man, and once you hear his horn caress a melancholy tune like “I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do” you’ll have one of six reasons from this disc why.

I grew up listening to these discs when they first came out; they were my intro to the world of jazz. As I listen to them with two score of years of other musical experiences, my first thought was, “Why didn’t I appreciate them as much as I should have?” Simply timeless sonic wonders, one and all.