Jawanza Kobie’s Weekly Wednesday Jazz Playlist May 4, 2022
Joe Sample was one of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders. Known for their funky soulful approach to playing Jazz did not limit them from playing traditional jazz. Sample was born in Houston Texas. In high school in the 1950s, Sample teamed up with friends saxophonist Wilton Felder and drummer ‘Stix’ Hooper to form a group called the Swingsters. While studying piano at Texas Southern University. Sample met and added trombonist Wayne Henderson and several other players to the Swingsters, which became the Modern Jazz Sextet and then the Jazz Crusaders. Joe had many successful hits in the early 1980’s as a solo artist playing contemporary Jazz piano original tunes. ‘Carmel’ was one of his early 1980s hits from the album of the same name.
Pianist Rodney Franklin burst onto the contemporary Jazz scene with his 2nd album You’ll Never Know. Out of Berkeley California he had worked with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and singer Marlena Shaw before releasing his 1stalbum on CBS records. In 1980 he had major chart success with ‘The Groove’ which reached the no. 7 spot on the UK singles chart. He is also a Black Belt in Korean Karate Tae Kwon Do.
Pianist composer Patrice Rushen began her recording career in the late 1970s playing traditional, Fusion, Funky Jazz. Patrice was three years old when she began playing the piano, and by the time she was six, she was giving classical recitals. After winning a competition at the age of 17 that enabled her to perform with her band at the Monterrey Jazz Festival, she signed with the Prestige label. Patrice has written for numerous film and television shows. Her career really took off in the 1980s with her catchy dance tracks which also featured her singing. ‘Haven’t You Heard’ was one of those tracks.
Grover Washington Jr. gained fame in the contemporary, funk, Jazz genre and is considered one of the founders of the smooth Jazz genre. Born in Buffalo NY Washington’s big break came when alto sax man Hank Crawford was unable to make a recording date with the Creed Taylor Kudu Records. This led to his first solo album Inner City Blues. Mister Magic from his forth album was a big hit for him is now considered a Jazz classic. A string of acclaimed records brought Washington through the 1970s, culminating in the signature piece for everything he would do from then on. Winelight (1980) was the album that defined everything Washington was then about, having signed for Elektra Records, part of the major Warner Music group. He later moved and lived in Philadelphia PA. The highlight of the album was his collaboration with soul artist Bill Withers "Just the Two of Us", a hit on radio during the spring and summer of 1981, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Singer songwriter, multi instrumentalist Bobby Caldwell was born in Manhattan but grew up in Miami Florida. He grew up listening to Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. He got his first career break as a guitarist for Little Richard in the earl 1970s. Caldwell eventually signed with TK Records. What You Won’t Do For Love from Bobby Caldwell reached the top ten on the 100 Billboard charts. His 2nd album yielded three hits one of them being ‘Coming Down From Love’.
Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo New York, in 1974. The band's music combine Jazz, R&B, Funk and Pop Music. Saxophonist Jay Beckenstein and keyboardist Jeremy Wall formed the band with Jazz and Rock musicians. ‘Catching The Sun’ is a popular track from the album of the same title released in 1980.
One of my all time idols in music is Herbie Handcock. Known for playing traditional, hard bop Jazz in the Miles Davis band, he later went into fusion starting with Miles’s Bitches Brew album and funk. In 1983 he won his first Grammy for his contemporary funk tune ‘Rockit’ from the Future Shock album.
Another of my all time idols in music is the late great Chick Corea. If you have read previous post you know how much he was and still is an influence on my writing and playing. In the 1980s when bands were doing videos, Chick released what I believe was their only video of the track ‘Eternal Child’ which would be as contemporary as he would get even though that genre of Jazz may not be considered for this track. The version heard here is not the popular version (Spotify did not have it) from the album Eye Of The Beholder’ which was the one I wanted to display.
Pianist Bobby Lyle first came to my attention in the late 1970s while I was in college. Lyle was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He showed an early aptitude for music with his mother being his first piano teacher. By junior high school he was playing clarinet and flute in the band as well as continuing piano lessons. Lyle's first recording opportunity came about as the result of winning an International organ competition sponsored by the Yamaha Music Corporation in 1973. In 1974 Lyle with wife Delores and two young sons in tow made the move from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, Ca. to pursue a music career in earnest. Through a friend he was introduced to Sylvester Stewart and after a brief audition was touring with Sly and the Family Stone. Wayne Henderson of the Crusaders took Lyle's demo to VP of A&R at Capitol Records Larkin Arnold and secured him a record deal which resulted in three albums, the first of which was the classic "The Genie" from the album of the same title.
Pianist composer Bob James is another founder of the smooth jazz genre. Robert McElhiney James, known professionally as Bob James, is an American jazz keyboardist, arranger, and record producer. He founded the band Fourplay and wrote "Angela", the theme song for the TV show Taxi. Music from his first seven albums has often been sampled and has contributed to the
formation of hip hop. While in college at Michigan, James played free jazz with musicians in Ann Arbor and Detroit. In 1962, his band entered the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival where the judges included Henry Mancini and Quincy Jones. The trio entered the competition not expecting to win but wanting to provide some avant-garde music in a contest field that was primarily straight ahead music. To the trio's surprise, they won the competition. Not long after, Jones signed James to an album deal with Mercury Records. Mercury released James's first album, Bold Conceptions (1963), a free jazz exploration that was produced by Quincy Jones and that differed from the smooth jazz for which he would later become known. This is “Snowbird Fantasy” from his album H released in 1980.
Composer, pianist, record producer and record label owner Dave Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy Award and ten Grammy Awards. He is the co-founder of GRP Records along with business partner Larry Rosen which was primarily a label for Jazz artist. His list of movies scores are part of many memories for movie goers and more like: The Graduate, Three Days Of The Condor, Bonfire Of The Vanities, The Firm etc. Grusin Produced records for Kevin Eubanks, Billy Joel, Bill Withers, Grover Washington Jr., Donna Summer etc. Here is a popular track from his Mountain Dance album ‘Friends And Strangers’
I hope you enjoy
JK