JAZZ REVIEW : AN UP, DOWN BENSON AT UNIVERSAL

It was the best of nights, it was the worst of nights. At a George Benson concert, the emotions are as mixed as the music he purveys.

Friday at the Universal Amphitheater Benson made his customary convincing first impression. Here is a guitarist who has it all: Rapid-fire Charlie Christian runs, bursts of seductive chording and a crisp sound that managed at times to rise above the hubbub behind him.

Benson now has a nine-piece band, directed by Randy Waldman. Only three members play horns, but combined with the sound and fury of two keyboards, two percussion, electric bass and a second guitar, they can concert a guitar specialty into a contest between soloist and accompanists.

In due course Benson put down his guitar and segued into what became primarily a vocal evening. Singing “Love Is Here Tonight,” from a TV show on which he made his acting debut, he was again partially submerged by the band.

Surcease arrived in the person of a new sideman, playing upright bass, for “Beyond the Sea,” a 42-year-old song by Charles Trenet, on which Benson, pianist Waldman and the ensemble swung in 4/4 time. “Unforgetable,” a tribute to Nat Cole, was similarly lacking in orchestral excesses.

For the most part, however, Benson sang pop hits of the kind that elicit applause during the introduction. In fact, the volume of pre-song clapping hints at the millions of sale: One tune would earn gold applause, another would rate a platinum reception.

These are mostly love songs so lyrically puerile and so noisily backed up that they become paeans to loveless love. The spiritual qualities with which Benson has been credited are canceled out by jejune melodies and arrangements.

There are exceptions. “Moody’s Mood for Love,” always a delight, was abetted by the conga player Katie Markowitz, who came down front to offer, very seductively, the lyrics to the second bridge. (But she and the guitarist Michael O’Neal, singing backup vocals much of the time, were merely intrusive.)

“This Masquerade” and “On Broadway,” sung as encores, have stood the test of time well; on the latter, organist Jimmy Smith, a visitor, joined Benson for some cheerful scatting.

Is Benson now irretrievably locked into his pop formula? Not really. Scatting in unison with his guitar solos, he reminded us that his unique ingenuity as a jazz artist remains unimpaired. But the show biz nonsense lowered the overall impact. There were even horn players waving their saxes in the air (a gimmick that went out of fashion in the 1930s) and jumping up and down like silly children. Benson’s attempts to dance were a slight embarrassment too.

The David Benoit Quartet opened the evening with six numbers in the popular vanilla-fudge-fusion vein.