2013 · Album
Inspiration (A Tribute To Nat King Cole)
Concord Jazz · Released: June 4, 2013 · Chart Peak: Number 89, Billboard album chart
Benson Honors Cole in the Studio
A straightforward tribute from one skilled vocalist to another, recorded late in Benson's career.
By 2013, George Benson had spent decades moving between soul, funk, pop, and jazz—a career defined by versatility rather than deep commitment to any single lane. Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole arrived when Benson was in his seventies, a moment when many artists either rest on their catalog or chase one last statement. This one lands somewhere in between: respectful, professional, occasionally warm, but never desperate to prove something.
The album consists of Benson's readings of Cole standards—ballads and uptempo pieces that sit naturally in his range. What works here is Benson's refusal to oversell the emotion. He doesn't try to become Cole or reinterpret these songs as some grand artistic statement. He simply sings them with the ease of someone who has earned the right to approach this material on his own terms. The arrangements are clean, the accompaniment unobtrusive. It's competent work by a musician who knows how to navigate a song.
The album peaked at number 89 on the Billboard chart, respectable but not remarkable—the kind of result that tells you exactly who showed up to listen. This is a record for people already interested in Benson, or in Cole revisits generally. It's not essential to understanding Benson's career, and it's not the place to start if you're discovering him. But for what it is—a late-career project by a journeyman vocalist paying tribute to an acknowledged master—it does the job without pretense.
Who's playing
Wynton Marsalistrumpet
Where next?
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
