George Benson’s ‘Giblet Gravy’ Comes to Vinyl
The jazz guitarist’s 1968 album of standards and original compositions is getting a vinyl release as part of the Verve Vault series.
George Benson’s Giblet Gravy, released in 1968 on Verve Records, is getting a vinyl re-release as part of the Verve Vault series. The album captures the jazz guitarist’s early period with the label.
Produced by Esmond Edwards and featuring arrangements by Tom McIntosh, the album places Benson within a studio framework that alternates between small-group interplay and expanded ensemble writing. The sessions include 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.
Giblet Gravy highlights the fluid articulation, blues-inflected phrasing, and rhythmic dexterity at the center of Benson’s music. The collection blends contemporary popular material, standards, and original compositions—the title track and “Low Down and Dirty”—illustrating the stylistic breadth that would inform Benson’s later crossover success while remaining grounded in the late-1960s jazz ensemble format.
Benson followed Giblet Gravy with 1969’s Shape Of Things To Come, his first US chart album. It was his first album to be produced by Cecil Taylor, marking the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship. That record features a real who’s-who of collaborators: Herbie Hancock and Hank Jones on piano; bassists Richard Davis and Ron Carter; and drummer Idris Muhammad, appearing as Leo Morris; and Latin music figurehead Johnny Pacheco offered percussion and conga.
The Verve Vault Series presents all-analog 180-gram vinyl reissues of essential albums from the Verve, Impulse!, Mercury, and associated catalogs. Mastered by Ryan K. Smith from the original analog tapes and pressed at Optimal, each release combines exceptional audio fidelity with meticulous attention to detail — from mastering to jacket reproduction. Modeled after the acclaimed Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series, Verve Vault highlights both iconic titles and overlooked gems from the 1950s through the 1970s.
