Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole is a studio album by George Benson. The album was released by Concord Jazz on June 4, 2013. It peaked at #89 on the Billboard album chart.
Critical reception
Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole has received very positive reception from music critics. Steve Leggett of Allmusic affirmed that "it all adds up to a sweet and very impressive album, full of warmth and heart, and it swings where it should." At USA Today, Steve Jones praised it for "his smooth vocals [that] make this homage unforgettable."
Formats Vinyl LP Regular CD Best Buy Edition CD (incl. 2 Bonus Tracks) Japanese Edition CD (incl. Bonus Track) QVC Edition (Regular CD + 6-track Bonus Disc) HD Tracks (High Definition Music Downloads) iTunes (incl. Bonus Track)
Track listing
Personnel George Benson – vocals, guitar Lil' Georgie Benson (age 8) – vocals (1), ukulele (1) Randy Waldman – acoustic piano, conductor, arrangements (2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15), string arrangements (4), backing vocals (10) Tim May – guitar Mike O'Neill – baritone guitar (15), banjo (15) Chuck Berghofer – bass Gregg Field – drums Michael Fisher – percussion Sheila E. – percussion (3) Wynton Marsalis – trumpet (3) Till Brönner – trumpet (9) Nelson Riddle – original arrangements (2, 7, 8, 11–13), horn arrangements (4) Idina Menzel – vocals (5) Alvin Chea – backing vocals (9, 10, 14, 15) Janey Clewer – backing vocals (9, 10, 14, 15) Don Shelton – backing vocals (9, 10) Chris Papastephanou – backing vocals (10) Judith Hill – vocals (11)
Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra Shelton Berg – dean of music Terence Blanchard – artistic director Scott Flavin – artistic coordinator Stephen Guerra – managing director
Brass and Woodwinds Cassandra Eisenreich – flute Neil Carson and Kevin McKeown – alto saxophone Derek Smith – baritone saxophone Mark Small and Alex Weitz – tenor saxophone Major Bailey, Chris Gagne, Kendall Moore and Stephen Szabadi – trombone Chris Burbank, Ryan Chapman, Jared Hall and Gilbert Paz – trumpet Jon Anderson – French horn
Strings Steffen Zeichner – concertmaster and violin soloist Rachel Hershey, Jeff Kipperman and Yen-Ling Lin – bass Joy Adams, Sarah Gongaware, Cecilia Huerta, Andrew Kromholz and Chia-Li Yu – cello Christina Hardister – harp Marcela Fernandez, Lauren Miller, Robyn Savitzky and Kathryn Severing – viola Victor Colmenares, Tomas Cotik, Adam Diderrich, Michelle Godbee, Patricia Jancova, Michelle Mlacker, Karin O'Keefe, Jonah Osawa, Rob Patrignani, Zack Piper, James Reynolds, Katrina Schaeffer, Arianne Urban, Abby Young and Steffen Zeichner – violin
Production John Burk – producer Randy Waldman – co-producer Brian Benison – music preparation Junko Tamura – music preparation Mary Hogan – A&R administration Larissa Collins – creative director Greg Allan for Omnivore Creative – art direction, design, photography Monica Schweiger – stylist Rachel Hoke – hair, make-up George Benson – liner notes Stephanie Gonzalez for Apropos Management & Marketing – artist representative
Technical credits Paul Blakemore – mastering at CMG Mastering (Cleveland, Ohio) Seth Presant – recording, mixing Al Schmitt – recording, mixing Shinnosuke Miyazawa – assistant recording engineer Chris Owens – assistant recording engineer Randy Waldman – additional piano recording at Randini Studio (Studio City, California) Jeff Jones – trumpet recording (3) Dave Polar – orchestra recording at The Hit Factory Criteria (Miami, Florida) Chad Jolly – assistant orchestra engineer
Release history +List of release dates, showing country, record label, and format Region Date Label Format Germany May 31, 2013 Concord CD, Digital download United Kingdom June 3, 2013 France United States June 4, 2013 Japan June 5, 2013 Germany June 14, 2013 LP record United Kingdom June 17, 2013 United States June 25, 2013 Japan
References