burningmindsvideos (July 23, 2008 at 3:18 am)

holy shit the bass players doing the tambourine too... 5:25[2] with his foot[2]

newktrane (July 21, 2008 at 2:42 am)

great comment. i remember an interviewer from downbeat magazine asking GB about the night in a all-star tribute to Mr. Hammond, when he followed SRV & Double Trouble and came out with a little amp & blew them off the stage with his own brand of Pittsburgh Blues/Jazz/Funk! I believe this was broadcast on pbs........I've been wanting to see that video clip for years. Mr. Hammond also had a hand in the early years of the 1st great Basie Band, & Aretha Franklin during her Columbia Records days.

Creationismsucks (July 17, 2008 at 9:03 pm)

I agree that he makes it feel natural, but that's actually a feeling he's worked hard to present. If you get ahold of the recordings from the earlier period wit McDuff, and listen through to now, you hear him working and refining a very specific set of licks and ideas, that he specifically took from horn players and other guitarists. To be sure he's got a ton of natural ability, but no, he's worked very hard to make his thing sound that "natural", and if you read interviews, he admits as much.

CHAPSTER326 (July 16, 2008 at 1:26 pm)

with his foot

CHAPSTER326 (July 16, 2008 at 1:25 pm)

holy shit the bass players doing the tambourine too... 5:25

lucatrejazz (July 8, 2008 at 7:12 pm)

yeah!!!!!!!!!!1

rayanthonybrown (July 5, 2008 at 6:04 am)

Someone once said that genius is 10 percent giftedness and 90 percent hard work. So I am quite reluctant to agree that "little thought" goes into the vast depth of Mr. Benson's playing. It doesn't come without the hard work, a vision for excellence, self mastery and strong practice ethics. And world class vocals to boot. If one can not recognize this then one has to be smoking pot instead of playing...wow. The haters just never seem to go away .

feelee15 (July 5, 2008 at 2:19 am)

badass riff at 2:54. the band is kILLIN

funkycubicleguy (June 29, 2008 at 5:06 pm)

I always get the impression that he is so naturally talented that he could just hear the sophisticated harmonies from the get-go, as opposed to most who spend a period studying harmony/theory. Thus, when he plays, there is remarkably little thought devoted towards thinking about what chord is coming up next, or what note names are available, whereas most other players, who have arrived at their level of harmonic sophistication through study, can never quite lose a degree of cerebralness.

maxwelld1961 (June 28, 2008 at 5:49 am)

John Hammond Sr.Legendary record producer.Who discovered Springsteen,Dylan and produced Stevie Ray Vaughan's first 2 albums.Called George one of the truly great musicians he had ever seen.Enough said.George play on we Love ya.Maxwell