George Benson turns 80!
Some people never get old. It is hard to believe that George Benson is 80 now. The last time I saw him perform live was at last year’s North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam. The music of George Benson has accompanied us since childhood so we’re celebrating today listening to everything from tracks of one of my favorite albums, “Bad Benson” (1974) to “Family Reunion”, which reunited him with the brilliant songwriter Rod Temperton, who wrote some of his most appealing songs like “Give Me The Night”, “Star Of A Story”, and “Love X Love”. He also re-invented himself several times over the years. Case in point: his Masters At Work-produced “You Can Do It Baby” from 1996. Another milestone and a track which I played during many of my DJ sets throughout the 90s and early 00s.
Here are his tour dates for this year so far:
4/19 Clearwater – Ruth Eckerd Hall
5/20 Pomona – Los Angeles County Fair
6/02 Newark – New Jersey Performing arts Center
6/27 Toronto – Toronto Jazz Fest
7/07 Lincoln – Thunder Valley Casino & Resort
8/18 Las Vegas – Encore at Wynn
8/23 Highland Park – Pavilion at Ravinia