Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole

Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole is a studio album by George Benson. The album was released by Concord Jazz on June 4, 2013. It peaked at #89 on the Billboard album chart.

Critical reception
Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole has received very positive reception from music critics. Steve Leggett of Allmusic affirmed that "it all adds up to a sweet and very impressive album, full of warmth and heart, and it swings where it should." At USA Today, Steve Jones praised it for "his smooth vocals [that] make this homage unforgettable."

Formats

 * Vinyl LP
 * Regular CD
 * Best Buy Edition CD (incl. 2 Bonus Tracks)
 * Japanese Edition CD (incl. Bonus Track)
 * QVC Edition (Regular CD + 6-track Bonus Disc)
 * HD Tracks (High Definition Music Downloads)
 * iTunes (incl. Bonus Track)

Personnel

 * George Benson – vocals, guitar
 * Lil' Georgie Benson (age 8) – vocals (1), ukulele (1)
 * Tim May – guitar
 * Mike O'Neill – baritone guitar (15), banjo (15)
 * Randy Waldman – acoustic piano, conductor, arrangements (2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15), string arrangements (4), backing vocals (10)
 * Chuck Berghofer – bass
 * Gregg Field – drums
 * Michael Fisher – percussion
 * Sheila E. – percussion (3)
 * Wynton Marsalis – trumpet (3)
 * Till Brönner – trumpet (9)
 * Nelson Riddle – original arrangements (2, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13), horn arrangements (4)
 * Idina Menzel – vocals (5)
 * Alvin Chea – backing vocals (9, 10, 14, 15)
 * Janey Clewer – backing vocals (9, 10, 14, 15)
 * Don Shelton – backing vocals (9, 10)
 * Chris Papastephanou – backing vocals (10)
 * Judith Hill – vocals (11)

Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra
 * Shelton Berg – dean of music
 * Terence Blanchard – artistic director
 * Scott Flavin – artistic coordinator
 * Stephen Guerra – managing director


 * Brass and Woodwinds
 * Cassandra Eisenreich – flute
 * Neil Carson and Kevin McKeown – alto saxophone
 * Derek Smith – baritone saxophone
 * Mark Small and Alex Weitz – tenor saxophone
 * Major Bailey, Chris Gagne, Kendall Moore and Stephen Szabadi – trombone
 * Chris Burbank, Ryan Chapman, Jared Hall and Gilbert Paz – trumpet
 * Jon Anderson – French horn


 * Strings
 * Steffen Zeichner – concertmaster and violin soloist
 * Rachel Hershey, Jeff Kipperman and Yen-Ling Lin – bass
 * Joy Adams, Sarah Gongaware, Cecilia Huerta, Andrew Kromholz and Chia-Li Yu – cello
 * Christina Hardister – harp
 * Marcela Fernandez, Lauren Miller, Robyn Savitzky and Kathryn Severing – viola
 * Victor Colmenares, Tomas Cotik, Adam Diderrich, Michelle Godbee, Patricia Jancova, Michelle Mlacker, Karin O'Keefe, Jonah Osawa, Rob Patrignani, Zack Piper, James Reynolds, Katrina Schaeffer, Arianne Urban, Abby Young and Steffen Zeichner – violin

Production

 * Producers – John Burk and Randy Waldman
 * Recording and Mix Engineers – Seth Presant and Al Schmitt
 * Assistant Engineers – Chad Jolly, Chris Owens and Shinnosuke Miyazawa.
 * Recorded at The Village Studios (Los Angeles, California).
 * Orchestra recorded by Dave Polar at The Hit Factory Criteria (Miami, Florida).
 * Trumpet on Track 3 recorded by Jeff Jones
 * Additional piano recording by Randy Waldman at Randini Studio (Studio City, California).
 * Mastered by Paul Blakemore at CMG Mastering (Cleveland, Ohio).
 * Music Preparation – Brian Benison and Junko Tamura
 * A&R Administration – Mary Hogan
 * Creative Director – Larissa Collins
 * Art Direction, Design and Photography – Greg Allan at Omnivore Creative.
 * Management – Stephanie Gonzalez at Apropos Management.