• Source: Breezin'

Breezin' is the fifteenth studio album by jazz/soul guitarist and vocalist George Benson. It is his debut on Warner Bros. Records. It not only was a chart-topper in the Jazz category but also went to #1 on the pop and R&B charts. It was certified triple platinum, making it one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.




Commercial performance


Breezin' marked the beginning of Benson's most successful period commercially, topping the Billboard Pop, Jazz and R&B album charts. It spun off two hit singles, the title song (which has become a fusion jazz standard) and "This Masquerade," which was a top ten pop and R&B hit. The album has since been certified as 3X multi-Platinum by the RIAA.
The album garnered multiple nominations and awards at the 19th Annual Grammy Awards. The album won the awards Best Pop Instrumental Performance for Benson and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Al Schmitt and was nominated as Album of the Year for Tommy LiPuma and Benson. "This Masquerade" received the award Record of the Year for LiPuma and Benson, while it was nominated as Song of the Year for Leon Russell and as Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male for Benson.




Critical reception



In a contemporaneous review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "C" and dismissed most of its music as "mush". In a retrospective review, Allmusic's Richard S. Ginell gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and said that, although Benson's guitar is "as assured and fluid as ever", Breezin' is "really not so much a breakthrough as it is a transition album; the guitar is still the core of his identity".




Track listing






Personnel


George Benson – guitar, vocals
Jorge Dalto – acoustic piano, clavinet, acoustic piano solo (2)
Ronnie Foster – electric piano, Minimoog synthesizer, mini-Moog solo (3), electric piano solo (5)
Phil Upchurch – rhythm guitar, bass (1, 3)
Stanley Banks – bass (2, 4–6)
Harvey Mason – drums
Ralph MacDonald – percussion
Claus Ogerman – arrangements and conductor




Production


Tommy LiPuma – producer
Noel Newbolt – associate producer
Al Schmitt – recording, mixing
Don Henderson – assistant engineer
Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California).
Ed Thrasher – art direction
Robert Lockhart – art direction
Peter Palombi – design
Mario Casilli – photography




Charts






Certifications and sales






See also


List of number-one albums of 1976 (U.S.)
List of number-one R&B albums of 1976 (U.S.)




References






External links


George Benson-Breezin at Discogs
Breezin' at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)

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