Aaron Thibeaux “T-Bone” Walker, May 28th, 1910 ~ March 16th, 1975. One of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. Walker a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter began playing during the 1930s and is the first musician recorded playing blues with an electric guitar.

Walkers parents were both musicians, but as he grew up it was his stepfather who taught him a multitude of instruments. Early in the 1920s, the teenage Walker began to learn his art from the street-strolling string bands of Dallas. Walker had left school at 10, and by 15, he was a professional performer on the blues circuit, with famed performer Charlie Christian as his mentor.

In 1929, Walker made his recording debut with a single for Columbia records, billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone. Oak Cliff was the community he lived in at the time and T-Bone a corruption of his middle name. His second album followed in 1942, but his most prolific recording period was between 1946-1948. His most famous song was “Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad”, recorded in 1947.

Walker influenced some of the finest musicians for generations. His trick of playing the guitar with his teeth was imitated by a young Jimi Hendrix. B.B. King once said, “When I heard T-Bone Walker play the electric guitar I had to have one”. While Chuck Berry once said, “All the things people see me do on the stage I got from T-Bone Walker”.

We found this film which we feel reflects nicely the era and musical style of T-Bone Walker.

The Wilson Benesch Team have now returned to the headquarters in England after a fruitful trip to Bavaria. The Munich High End Show was a remarkable success, not only from our perspective but from an industry perspective. With record numbers of exhibitors, a high standard of presentation and a healthy spirit across the show, the Munich High End show is a healthy 30 years old.

Wilson Benesch presented the much lauded A.C.T.C60 throughout the show. On the back of a strong review in Stereo and third place in the all time magazine rankings, the A.C.T.C60 was a popular choice for audiophiles around the show. In support Wilson Benesch displayed the Odyssey Range. Now approaching its 10th-year in production the range remains as popular as ever, indeed the flagship Chimera placed a high 6th in the aforementioned Stereo Magazine ranking; a testament to the strength of the technologies that Wilson Benesch have engineered.

Also on display and very much at the center of attention for our visitors was the first two products in the new Geometry Series. The floor standing Vector and the stand mounted Vertex, complete with the new Tactic II drive unit and Wilson Benesch’s first tweeter, the Semisphere. The Geometry Series is a technological advance in loudspeaker design. Built with no internal bracing and from extremely rigid, mutually damping alloys and advanced composites. In terms of signal to noise ratio the Geometry Series is at the front of the field.

Of course with any Hi-Fi show, a number of important people make the show what it is. First of all we would like to extend our gratitude to all the attendees of the show and our customers who we are always thrilled to meet. A special thank you to our partners at the show, Audionet, who provided amplification for our presentation. Another important element must be recognised in our German distribution company Taurus high-end. Finally it was a pleasure to meet our key business partners from around the globe and wish them all the success with the Wilson Benesch brand.

Here to share are our little experiences of the weekend.

Wilson Benesch rarely announces a new range of loudspeakers. So when it does; you can rest assured that each product has been meticulously crafted and designed to create something very special. The following short provides a glimpse into the first production run for one component of our latest floor standing speaker, the Vector. The film reveals our desire to engage with the our customers and fans; to show them exactly why a Wilson Benesch design is so unique. The film captures some of the more intricate tooling involved during the two and a half hours required to cut three new Vector feet.

Design and Manufacturing are integrated functions within Wilson Benesch that enable a level of performance that is beyond other modes of operation. An concept can be discussed, modeled in a 3D CAD environment and manufactured for rigorous evaluation within a day when required. The freedom and creativity this allows, buds an exciting and enthusiastic design team and we feel this is reflected in our products. With the capacity to manufacture in any kind of metal as well as advanced carbon fibre composites, next generation manufacturing is the hallmark of Wilson Benesch design. This capability is of course constantly advancing and we have already introduced products that exploit exotic technologies like nano technology and additive engineering, making them a part of today’s designs.

20 years of manufacturing history and investment now sees a State of the Art Manufacturing plant and equipment dedicated to audio design and manufacture. But of course it is the people that make a company. Some of the long serving members of the team now account for well over a hundred years of experience. These years of experience and know how cannot be bought at any price and this, above all else is what sets a Wilson Benesch product apart.

Managing Director Christina Milnes

Stanley Getz aka Stanley Gayetzby, February 2nd 1927 ~ June 6th, 1991. An American jazz saxophonist, and bossa nova legend, known as “The Sound” due to his warm, lyrical tone.

The son of Ukrainian immigrants, Getz was born in Philadelphia but spent the majority of his childhood in the Bronx. Getz quickly identified himself as a musical prodigy, taking up the harmonica at age 12, before receiving his first alto saxophone at 13. In High School he quickly mastered the bassoon and would be offered a scholarship to the prestigious performing arts school, Julliard. But it was too late: the wicked urges of jazz had already taken hold of his innocent soul and Stanley passed up the offer in favor of a new tenor sax and a membership in the local musician’s union. In 1943, age 16, he left school and went on tour as part of fellow jazz musician, Jack Teagarden’s band.

Throughout the 40′s, Getz would gradually establish himself as the leading musician in a number of bands. Eventually achieving his first hit, “Early Autumn” with Woody Herman’s band ‘The Second Herd’. This success would allow Getz to leave the band and launch his solo career.

By the 1950s, Getz would be the leader on almost all of his recording sessions. He has established himself as a leading Jazz musician and would now regaularly record with reputable musicians such as Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and many others.

By the 1960s Getz returned to the US from Scandinavia, where he had moved to battle a drugs problem. Getz became a central figure in introducing bossa nova music to the US. During this time he teamed up with Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a tour of Brazil. In 1962 Getz recorded Jazz Samba. In 1963 Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance for “Desafinado” from the same album. It sold over a million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Shortly after Getz would record ‘Jazz Samba Encore!’, which would also achieve a gold disc.

The success of bossa nova in the US can largely be attributed to these two albums. But Getz crowning achievement and perhaps most famous album was Getz/Gilberto. Recorded in 1963, with Tom Jobim, João Gilberto and his wife, the totally unheard of, Astrud Gilberto. The album won two Grammys.

The Getz/Gilberto musical partnership would end abruptly after Getz affair with Astrud Gilberto and would signal Getz movement away from the bossa nova scene towards cool jazz. Whilst Getz remained a prominent musician throughout the 70s, the 60s remained his most successful period of his career.

Getz was a capable of a wide range of behaviours, indeed Zoot Sims a long time friend, famously described him as ‘a nice bunch of guys’. Toward the end of his life Getz would finally end his drug addictions, but in 1991 he died of cancer aged 64.

We are delighted to announce that thanks to Aditya Bhasin of Xsys Solutions, the Wilson Benesch design is now available in India. Xsys Solutions has built an enviable reputation for installing some of the finest High End systems in India.

Everyone at Wilson Benesch would like to wish Aditya and his company every success with the  exciting plans for the continuing development of this important market.

For further information contact : -