George Benson — A Tribute to Nat King Cole
Recorded July 10, 2009
Rotterdam Ahoy — Amazon stage · Rotterdam · 
Netherlands
Setlist not available.
Latest album at the timeGivin’ It Up2006Givin’ It Up is George Benson's most recent studio album at the time of the recording.“To see Benson bring the Nat King Cole tribute to North Sea Jazz, four years before the album.”
Context
On July 10, 2009, George Benson returns to North Sea Jazz with another singer at the center of the concept: Nat King Cole. The tribute had already toured the United States the year before. Now it takes the Amazon stage at Rotterdam Ahoy, with a lineup far larger than a small jazz group.
Benson takes vocals and guitar, while Randy Waldman conducts and plays piano and keyboards. Michael O'Neill, Thom Hall, Stanley Banks and Teddy Campbell make up the band. Six backing singers join the strings and harp. The tribute brings together, on the same stage, the singer, the guitarist and the orchestral apparatus.
The project continues beyond that Friday. In 2013, Benson releases Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, a studio album dedicated to the same repertoire, with other guests. The Rotterdam recording preserves an earlier stage of that path: the tribute already reaches festival scale four years before it reaches record.
Lineup at this show
The lineup of this performance — not necessarily the current one.
- George BensonVocals and guitar
- Randy WaldmanConductor, piano and keyboards
- Janey ClewerBacking vocals
- Erwin van MotmanBacking vocals
- Tarif HeljananBacking vocals
- Russell PatawalaBacking vocals
- Dani DuzantBacking vocals
- Anna MackaloyBacking vocals
- Michael O'NeillGuitar
- Thom HallKeyboards
- Stanley BanksBass
- Teddy CampbellDrums
- Babette BeertemaStrings
- Maria ChiariziaStrings
- Eva PetrarcaStrings
- Noa EylStrings
- Marianne HutchinsonStrings
- Hoei Lien TheStrings
- Bas TreubStrings
- Nadia FrissenStrings
- Pieter van LoenenStrings
- Hadwijch HoflandStrings
- Esther Op t LandStrings
- Maria Claire BoelStrings
- Margot KolodziejStrings
- Killian van RooijStrings
- Koos VerhageStrings
- Annelies de RooijStrings
- Sophie GrooteViola
- David LopezViola
- Mirjam KleinViola
- Estella Briceno MesquitaViola
- Jobine SiekmanCello
- Marjolein NieuwenkampCello
- Anna DrijversCello
- Cristina DulantoCello
- Martijn KortleveCello
- Marijke van den BergenCello
- Astrid HaringHarp
- Vasilis Stefanopulos
- Elma Dekker
- Andor Horvath
- Allan Eshuijs
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