Veteran guitarist, GEORGE BENSON – who rose to the fame in the ’70s and ’80s with a commercially successful amalgam of jazz, soul, pop and funk that won him legions of fans around the world – has just published his autobiography via Da Capo books in the USA. 

Penned with respected US author, Alan Goldsher (who wrote a great book a few years ago about Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers called Hard Bop Academy), Benson: The Autobiography vividly chronicles the guitarist’s storied life and career. It recounts his early days in Pittsburgh when he was child prodigy playing the ukelele to his breakthough period with Creed Taylor’s CTI label and his transformation into a feted international pop star with ten Grammies to his name.

Featuring a foreword from Bill Cosby and packed with behind-the-scenes anecdotes and insights into the guitarist’s life, personality and spiritual beliefs, it’s a book that anyone interested in jazz and soul music should acquire post haste. 

Benson: The Autobiography is published by Da Capo Press and is out now

Read SJF’s 2009 interview with George Benson here:

 http://www.soulandjazzandfunk.com/interviews/238-by-george-bensons-back-with-a-vengeance.html