George Benson - Giblet Gravy - 180g Vinyl LP

2026
The Verve Vault series is always mastered from analog tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Released in 1968 on Verve Records, documents guitarist George Benson during his early period with the label. Produced by Esmond Edwards and featuring arrangements by Tom McIntosh, the sessions draw on a range of jazz and studio musicians, including pianist Herbie Hancock, bassists Ron Carter and Bob Cranshaw, drummer Billy Cobham, percussionist Johnny Pacheco, and baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, alongside a brass and rhythm section assembled for selected tracks.

According to AllMusic reviewer Richard S. Ginell, the label's "immediate goal was to groom Benson as the next Wes Montgomery (who was about to leave Verve) - and so he covers hit tunes of the day, playing either with a big band plus voices or a neat quintet anchored by Herbie Hancock, and the sound is contoured to give his guitar a warm mellow ambience. But the eclectic Benson is his own man, as his infectious repeated-interval rhythm trademark tells us on his self-composed title track. George's work is always tasty and irresistibly melodic."