At age 76, jazz great George Benson spends time with one of his great loves every day.
From his primary home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on the edge of Phoenix, Benson reaches for guitar all the time.
"I am with my guitar almost every day," he says. "I pick it up and play 'til I get tired. I try to discover new ideas. I love presenting new ideas to my audience. When they think I'm all played out and finished, I got some new stuff ... That's my mentality, that's how I roll."
Benson started playing a ukelele at age 7, and recorded his music on a guitar at age 10. He's played with the greats of jazz (Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard), and broke through to commercial success with his Breezin' album in 1976, featuring the title track and The Masquerade - winning a Grammy for both songs.
This year he released his first new album, Walking to New Orleans: Remembering Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, in six years.
"It came out of midair," Benson says of the album concept. "Mascot Records [his new label], they came to me with an idea. I thought it sounded crazy to me. There's only one Chuck Berry, only one Fats Domino. Why would they ask me? But I've always done projects off the beaten path - Like Off Broadway, The Masquerade. They all came to me from left field."
Songs on the album include Berry's Nadine, You Can't Catch Me, Havana Moon, How You've Changed and Memphis, Tennessee and Fat's classics Rockin' Chair and Ain't That a Shame.
"I was amazed at how things came out," Benson says, clearly still engaged in his music. "We went in there off the cuff. I wasn't going to try to produce them. They are so individually stylised. They have identities you couldn't step on. I tried to honour them with their music. The heritage they gave us was gigantic. I'm really happy with how it came out."
Benson has been around long enough to be able to say he played shows with Chuck Berry, on tours in Europe.
"He was quite a specialised musician," he says. "His mode of operation was quite different. He had certain things he had to have - if he had those, he was good to go, and he was great."
Every day is a learning experience. I try to use what I know to the best advantage.
George Benson
Benson counts Chuck Berry as a significant guitar innovator, with the album notes quoting Benson as saying of Berry, "When he couldn't afford a big amplifier, he had a little old tiny amplifier with built-in distortion when he turned it up loud. So he was one of the earlier inventors of that 'fuzz' sound."
Benson's own ability to adapt and innovate has been a major component of his success, in a career spanning covering more than 40 albums of his own albums.
"Every day is a learning experience," he says. "I try to use what I know to the best advantage. I consider it a privilege to go through many trials and tribulations to get to where we are today. It was worth it. We proved them wrong."
Of course, Benson was referencing the critics who said he couldn't sing.
"A good song can be sung by anybody," he says, referring to his breakthrough with The Masquerade. "I started back-singing at 33. The Masquerade turned out to be a smash single. I was honored by that. I realised what the potential was. I had 25 other smashes. It was just incredible."
By its nature, jazz is for innovators. While Benson's fame came from commercial popularity, his heart and soul are married to jazz.
"Jazz music has given us freedom and a range that is specialised in the world," he says. "We have something unique. We can do something other genres don't even try. The ability to improvise has given us an identity beyond the genre.
"Even when I'm recording ... when I hear the playback, I don't even realise that's something I did."
He's been inspired on previous trips to Australia, so fans can rightly expect more creativity from him in 2020.
