"These days, George Benson (born March 22, 1943, Pittsburgh, PA) is often described as a commercial R&B/pop singer who sometimes moonlights as a pop-jazz guitarist. But early in his career -- when Benson was still in his twenties -- the jazz world thought of him as a guitar-playing hard bop/soul-jazz instrumentalist whose primary influences were Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian. In the early to mid-'60s, Benson was the epitome of straight-ahead jazz -- and jazz purists loved the bop-oriented direction of the George Benson Quartet, a hard-swinging combo that he formed in 1965 (11 years before he enjoyed a major pop breakthrough with 1976's multi-platinum Breezin'). Although the group was short-lived, many jazz purists insist that it was Benson's greatest achievement." (Allmusic)
Deze concertopnamen zijn ook uitgebracht onder de titels "Par Excellence", "Jazz At A Sunny Afternoon", "This Masquerade" of gewoon kortweg "Live At Casa Caribe". Het betreft steeds hetzelfde concert in Plainfield, New Jersey, 1973. Een ontspannen gitarist met combo aan het werk in een kleine club, net vòòr z'n grote mainstream doorbraak. "Benson is really stretching out and sounding at his best. Joined by pianist Mickey Tucker, bassist George Duvivier and drummer Al Harewood for four straight-ahead standards, the guitarist takes long solos on "Love for Sale," "There Will Never Be Another You" and "All Blues" (all of which are over 10½ minutes long) and takes a pleasing vocal on "The Masquerade Is Over." One wishes that Benson, having become famous, would still allow himself the luxury to stretch out like this now and then. Worth searching for." (Scott Yanow, Allmusic)
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