Walking to New Orleans is a studio album by American guitarist and singer George Benson, released by Provogue Records on 26 April 2019. It is Benson's first recording since Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, which was released in 2013.
Background Benson made this album as a tribute to Fats Domino and Chuck Berry. In an interview, Benson said: ″I'm a great appreciator of the music made by both of those guys″; ″Chuck Berry was a great showman and a great musician, and Fats Domino cut nothing but hit after hit after hit″.
Critical reception
Peter Quinn of Jazzwise remarked "On his 45th album, George Benson pays tribute to two of his musical heroes, the godfather of rock'n'roll, Chuck Berry, and another rock'n'roll icon and hit machine, Fats Domino." Matt Collar of Allmusic noted "Where Inspiration was a lushly swinging standards album, Walking to New Orleans is all blues grit and old-school R&B swagger."
Track listing
Personnel George Benson – vocals, guitar Kevin McKendree – acoustic piano Rob McNelley – rhythm guitar Alison Prestwood – bass guitar Greg Morrow – drums, percussion Paulie Cerra – saxophone, baritone saxophone Ron Dziubla – baritone saxophone, sax solos Lee Thornburg – trumpet, horn arrangements Jeff Bova – orchestral arrangements The Bovaland Symphonic Orchestra – orchestra Mahalia Barnes – backing vocals Prinnie Stevens – backing vocals Natasha Stuart – backing vocals
Production George Benson – executive producer Kevin Shirley – producer Roy Koch – artwork Austin Hargrave – photography Stephanie Gonzalez for Apropos Management – management
Technical credits Bob Ludwig – mastering at Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine) Kevin Shirley – mixing, BGV engineer, horn engineer Austin Atwood – tracking engineer Mark DeCozio – additional vocal engineer Vezi Tayyeb – horn engineer
Release history Region Date Format Label United States 26 April 2019
References