Breezin' (song)

"Breezin'" is an instrumental song composed by American singer and musician Bobby Womack. It was first recorded in December 1970 by the influential Hungarian jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó, in partnership with Womack himself. This version was included on Szabó's album High Contrast and was released as a single in April 1971 in the United States and in 1972 in the Netherlands, reaching No. 43 on the R&B chart. "Breezin'" was produced by Tommy LiPuma. Bobby Womack wrote some lyrics for the song that weren't used in Szabo's instrumental version but Womack does perform the song with lyrics on his DVD Raw, released in 2010.

Track listing
"Breezin'"s full length on Szabó's album High Contrast is 3:11, while the single version is edited to 3:03.

Personnel

 * Gábor Szabó – Electric guitar, Acoustic guitar
 * Bobby Womack – Songwriter, Electric rhythm guitar
 * Jim Keltner – Drums
 * Felix "Flaco" Falcon – Congas
 * Phil Upchurch – Bass
 * Rene Hall – String arrangements
 * Carmelo Garcia – Percussion
 * Bruce Botnick – Audio engineer
 * Tommy LiPuma – Tambourine, Gourd percussion, record producer

George Benson version (1976)
Five years after Gábor Szabó's original recording, the song became even better known for a successful rerecording by singer and guitarist George Benson, whose 1976 cover was the title track of his album Breezin'. His version was recorded in January 1976 and released as a single in September of the same year, entering the American charts in October. Like Szabó's original, Benson's cover was produced by Tommy LiPuma. The album and single were released by Warner Bros. Records.

7" single
"Breezin'"s full length on Benson's album Breezin' is 5:40 while the single edit is 5:20.

Personnel

 * Songwriter – Bobby Womack
 * Lead Guitar, Vocals – George Benson
 * Bass, Rhythm Guitar – Phil Upchurch
 * Conductor, Arranged By – Claus Ogerman
 * Drums – Harvey Mason
 * Flute - Bennie Maupin
 * Electric Piano, Keyboards – Ronnie Foster
 * Percussion – Ralph MacDonald
 * Piano, Clavinet – Jorge Dalto
 * Producer – Tommy LiPuma

Other versions
The song was also recorded twice by saxophonist and arranger Hank Crawford: first in 1980 with guitarist Calvin Newborn for their collaborative album Centerpiece and again in 1996 for his album Tight. Additionally, Masayoshi Takanaka recorded a city pop version of the song, released on his 1978 album On Guitar.