Anthology (2010)

Over 30-odd years, pop-soul-jazzman George Benson has suffered critical slings and arrows alongside massive commercial approval. But he's one of the era's great guitarists and a singer of no small gift, as the two-disc Anthology reminds us. Beyond the Benson hit parade — ''This Masquerade,'' ''Give Me the Night,'' ''Turn Your Love Around'' — we hear workouts with organists Jack McDuff and Jimmy Smith, jazz cred on ''Moody's Mood'' and ''Tenderly,'' and soaring might on ''We All Remember Wes,'' honoring Wes Montgomery, another jazz guitar great who crossed over, elegantly. A-