Next Friday, Mercury Studios will release another archived performance from the vaults of the Montreux Jazz Festival, this time from famed jazz guitarist George Benson. George Benson: Live at Montreux 1986 is set for release exclusively on a DVD/2CD set almost 37 years to the day since Benson performed the concert contained in the recording that Mercury Studios previously released in 2005. The studio previously released the concert exclusively on DVD under its former moniker, Eagle Rock Entertainment, making the 2CD set a new addition to this re-issue. The new addition is obviously the key positive to the new presentation and will be discussed shortly. While the addition of the concert on a new 2CD set alongside the DVD makes for a strong starting point for the recording’s re-issue, the recording is not perfect. Its liner notes (or rather the manner in which they were printed) is somewhat problematic in regard to the recording’s overall presentation. This will be examined a little later. The recording’s set list is of its own interest and will also be examined later. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of George Benson: Live at Montreux 1986. All things considered they make the recording a mostly successful re-issue from Mercury Studios.
Mercury Studios’ forthcoming re-issue of George Benson: Live at Montreux 1986 is a mostly successful presentation that will find appeal among a wide range of audiences. That includes his own established audiences, as well as more casual fans of jazz, funk and R&B. The re-issue’s addition of the concert on a 2CD set accompanying the original DVD presentation is at the heart of its appeal. Having the set there to accompany the full audiovisual presentation will now allow the noted audiences to enjoy the concert whether at home or in the car. The entire concert featured in the original DVD presentation is included in the 2CD set, and what’s more it is presented in exactly the same order as it was on the DVD presentation. This adds even more to the positive effect of the set’s presentation considering that there are, by comparison, still concert recordings from other labels out there whose set lists are not the same between presentations even to this day. So to that end, this aesthetic element pairs with the very fact that audiences can now enjoy the concert on both “audio-exclusive” and full audio visual presentations to build a strong foundation for the re-issue’s presentation.
While the addition of the original concert on a 2CD set forms a solid foundation for George Benson: Live at Montreux 1986, the liner notes – or rather their presentation style – weakens that foundation to a point. Crafted by journalist Graham Betts, the liner notes point out that Benson started his career in music at the tender age of 8. He adds of Betts, that he idolized fellow famed jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery throughout his early years. Montgomery remains to this day, one of the most iconic figures in the jazz community, so it is little surprise that it is so easy to compare his playing style in this performance to that of Montgomery. Perhaps most interesting of all from Betts is that he is not afraid to call into question why Benson spent so little time on his 1976 album, Breezin’. From there, Betts proceeds to offer even more welcome insight throughout his writing, as audiences will find out for themselves.
While Betts offers audiences such an extensive look into the concert featured in this recording, the manner in which the liner notes are presented raises its own problem. The notes in question are printed inside the gatefold packaging in black against a red background. For those who might be less familiar with how graphic art works, having dark font on a dark background simply does not work and should never be used…ever. That is because just as with light on light, the two completely offset one another and create a certain difficulty in visibility. Now Betts is not to be blamed for this presentation style. Rather, whoever was responsible for the recording’s packaging should receive the attention for the concern. Because the information is presented in such fashion, audiences will have a difficult time reading the liner notes in regular household lighting. Audiences will have to have an extra light shining directly on the information if they intend to be able to fully read Betts’ notes. For that matter, the same applies to reading the set list and extra information on the back of the package since it is presented in the same fashion. While this presentation style is clearly problematic for the recording’s presentation, it is not enough to doom the recording, but also cannot be ignored.
Knowing the concern raised through the liner notes’ presentation is not enough to doom the recording, there is still one more positive to note. That positive comes in the form of the concert’s set list. As already noted, the set list is presented in the same order both on DVD and its new 2CD set. The set list is not a career-spanning presentation by any means but considering that Benson has released some three dozen studio recordings over the course of his decades-long career. Knowing that, the set list does at least serve as a good starting point for audiences who maybe are less familiar with Benson’s catalog. The set list reaches back to Benson’s 1974 album, Bad Benson and all the way up to his 1985 album, 20/20. The simplest way to outline the set list is that in large part, Benson pulls from the albums he released through Warner Brothers Records for the concert’s set list. Being that Benson was in the middle of a contract with Warners that would last through 1993, maybe that would make sense. That is just this critic’s interpretation. Either way, the set list offers its own key glimpse into a period that was its own important part of Benson’s career that was already quite extensive in its own right at that point. When the positive of the set list is considered along with the positive of the addition of the concert on a 2CD set here, the whole of those elements gives audiences reason enough to take in this new re-issue from Mercury Studios.
Mercury Studios’ forthcoming re-issue of its previously released George Benson concert recording, George Benson: Live at Montreux 1986, is a mostly successful offering from the label. Its success comes in large part through the addition of the original concert on a 2CD set this time out. In its original presentation, the concert was only presented on DVD, so now audiences can enjoy the performance anywhere they go. The addition of the concert on a new 2CD set builds a strong foundation for the recording, and the in-depth liner notes build even more on that foundation. While the liner notes obviously add to the recording’s appeal, the manner in which they were presented detracts from the appeal. That is because they are difficult to read, being presented in a dark-colored font against a dark-colored background. Thankfully that is not enough to doom the recording. To that end, the unique set list featured in the recording rounds out the recording’s most important elements. That is because while it is not a career-spanning set list, it does offer audiences at least a good, solid starting point as an introduction to Benson’s catalog. Each item examined here is important in its own way to the whole of the recording’s new presentation. All things considered they make George Benson: Live at Montreux 1986 a mostly successful new re-issue from Mercury Studios that George Benson’s fans will find appealing.
George Benson: Live at Montreux 1986 is scheduled for release July 7 through Mercury Studios. More information on this and other titles from Mercury Studios is available at:
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