Breezin'

Breezin' is an album by jazz/soul guitarist George Benson. It is his debut on Warner Bros. Records.

Commercial performance

The album marked the beginning of Benson's most successful period commercially. Breezin' topped the Pop, Jazz and R&B album charts in Billboard and spun off two hit singles, the title song (which has become a smooth jazz standard) and "This Masquerade," which was a top ten pop and R&B hit. The album itself was certified triple Platinum by the RIAA.

The album won multiple prizes at the 1977 Grammy Awards. The album won the awards Best Pop Instrumental Performance for Benson and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Al Schmitt and was nominated as Album of the Year for Tommy LiPuma and Benson. "This Masquerade" received the award Record of the Year for LiPuma and Benson, while it was nominated as Song of the Year for Leon Russell and as Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male for Benson.

Critical reception

In a contemporaneous review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "C" and dismissed most of its music as "mush". In a retrospective review, Allmusic's Richard S. Ginell gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and said that, although Benson's guitar is "as assured and fluid as ever", Breezin' is "really not so much a breakthrough as it is a transition album; the guitar is still the core of his identity."

Sepia

Sepia may refer to:

Color

Marine life

Sepia (magazine)

Sepia, a photojournalistic magazine styled like Look and sometimes compared to Ebony, featured articles based primarily on the achievements of African Americans. It was published in Fort Worth, Texas by Good Publishing Company (aka Sepia Publishing), owned and operated by George Levitan, who was not black himself. Levitan also published Hep, Jive and Bronze Thrills.

Adelle Jackson was the editorial director of Sepia, which debuted in 1947 under the name Negro Achievements. It focused on various aspects of African American culture, including churches, civil rights and education. With the goal of fostering leadership, it published serious articles on the development of black institutions, including colleges and universities.

The publication often exposed the obstacles facing blacks, from lynching and Ku Klux Klan operations in its earlier publications to the later rise in violence among blacks. Levitan financed John Howard Griffin's investigative journalism book, Black Like Me, which was first serialized in Sepia. In Black Like Me, Griffin described Levitan and Sepia:

Sepia (restaurant)

Sepia is a mid-sized, upscale restaurant run by owner Emmanuel Nony and Executive Chef Andrew Zimmerman located in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois (United States). Chef Zimmerman's menu is classified as New American cuisine, and focuses on local, seasonal products. Built in Chicago’s Warehouse District, Sepia was originally a print shop from the 1890s. The renovation for the restaurant, designed by Gary Lee, included putting in a custom-tile, Art Nouveau floor and hand-crafted millwork in order to enhance the historical qualities of the building. Sepia also uses vintage stemware for their tables matching the vintage interior decor of the restaurant.

Description

Sepia seats around 95 guests and is located in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Its product-driven menu created by Executive Chef Andrew Zimmerman focuses on local, seasonal ingredients which provide the foundation for his New American cuisine. Chef Zimmerman’s Michelin-starred menu showcases ingredients that are locally sourced and primarily organic and/or sustainable. Zimmerman's pastas, chutneys and jams are all homemade; he supports local artisan farmers and encourages craftsmanship and the revival of traditional practices.