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Incredible work from the Jazz Crusaders – a brilliant album of longer tracks that has them working at their soulful, sophisticated best! The record's great proof that the Crusaders had a depth that many rarely gave them credit here – as they're working here in a complicated set of rhythms, tones, colors, and patterns that easily matches some of the best Blue Note mid 60s work by Hank Mobley or Lee Morgan! All tracks are recorded live, and in very long takes that show the combo effortlessly setting up the rhythms – then stepping out with extended solos that are surprisingly exploratory and modern-sounding. Titles include "Trance Dance", "Summer Madness", "Young Rabbits", and "Freedom Sound".

One of their best LPs from the 60's, and a good mix of soul jazz grooves with a freer, post-Coltrane sound that gives the band a spiritual edge not always heard on the earlier records. The set's got some great long originals – like "Anita's New Dance", "Space Settlement", and "I Think It Was A Dream" – which give Wayne Henderson and Wilton Felder a lot more room to stretch out and explore new ideas. Great stuff, and a very solid record throughout.

Killer Jazz Crusaders material! The record captures the group at a perfect time – a point when they were breaking past the tighter shorter formula of earlier material, and moving into a slightly more spiritual conception – yet one that still had a hard swing and a deeply soulful vibe! The record's a prime example of the never-ending energy held by the band – near-perfect on every track, and played with a sense of creative expression that easily puts them at the top of the soul jazz scene in the late 60s! Titles include "Night Theme", "Air Waves", "Uh Huh", "Watts Happening", and "Ice Water".

An amazing little record – not just for the music itself, which is inherently great – but also for its straight jazz presentation of players you might know in more of a reggae-based setting! The album's a smoking set of hardbop numbers, played with plenty of soul – by a combo billed as the Jamaican Jazz Crusaders – featuring Roy Bubbles Burrows on trumpet, Ernst Ranglin on guitar, Roland Alphonso on tenor, Aubrey Adams on piano, Harold Williams on bass, and Carl McLeod on drums. The format's a bit unusual, in that the album's bracketed by interviews and introductions from Jamaican jazz DJ Nevil Willoughby – but in the core are some great performances, with very inventive arrangements, especially in the way Ranglin's guitar is used – on titles that include "The Highest Mountain", "On Green Dolphin Street", "Split Kick", and "Round Midnight".

Great work from one of the funkiest periods in the career of the Jazz Crusaders – that point when they first dropped the "jazz" from their name, and started moving into groovier territory! The set's a bit electric, but never as much so as their later, bigger hits – just enough so that the basslines bump the tunes along strongly, and the keyboards start to sparkle in the mix too – but still leaving plenty of space for acoustic contributions on piano, trombone, and tenor. Arthur Adams joins the group for a bit of guitar, which is well-placed – and titles include the massive "Pass The Plate" medley, which runs for over 15 minutes – plus "Young Rabbits 71/72", "Goin' Down South", "Listen & You'll See", "Greasy Spoon", and "Treat Me Like Ya Treat Yaself".

A great Crusaders album – and one that's a perfect bridge between their earlier soul jazz styles, and their tighter funkier electric one. The record was recorded live at the Roxy, and the group is augmented by Larry Carlton on guitar, who gives the tracks a nice razor edge at his best moments. All songs are pretty long – and the band is in extremely good form, jamming away with lots of funky vamping, and breaking out with some very soulful solos. Titles include "Scratch", "Hard Times", "So Far Away", and "Way Back Home".

What can we say? When this record came out, everybody we knew thought they'd totally lost it, and stopped being funky. From the vantage point of this generation, though, the record's a jazz funk masterpiece, with a smooth R&B sound that's virtually flawless, and a perfect summation of all of the great studio work being done in 70s LA. Includes the massive extended version of "Street Life", with vocals by Randy Crawford, plus other great cuts like "Night Faces", "The Hustler", and "Rodeo Drive".

A stone classic from reedman Ronnie Laws – and an album that really helped set a whole new standard for funky fusion in the 70s! Laws works here with great Wayne Henderson production – which gives the album an even sharper sound than other Blue Note sets of this vintage – and that kind of tight blend of funk and jazz you'd find in the Crusaders, with a similar no-nonsense approach in the grooves! Henderson's got a great way of never being too smooth – and Laws responds with some wicked solos on tenor, soprano sax, and flute – soaring out over the course of the whole wonderful album. Titles include "Goodtime Ride", "Just Love", "Saturday Evening", "Friends & Strangers", "Nuthin Bout Nuthin", "New Day", and "Same Old Story".

Two stone classics from Ronnie Laws – back to back on a single CD! Friends & Strangers is a stone classic from reedman Ronnie Laws – and an album that really helped set a whole new standard for funky fusion in the 70s! Laws works here with great Wayne Henderson production – which gives the album an even sharper sound than other Blue Note sets of this vintage – and that kind of tight blend of funk and jazz you'd find in the Crusaders, with a similar no-nonsense approach in the grooves! Henderson's got a great way of never being too smooth – and Laws responds with some wicked solos on tenor, soprano sax, and flute – soaring out over the course of the whole wonderful album. Titles include "Goodtime Ride", "Just Love", "Saturday Evening", "Friends & Strangers", "Nuthin Bout Nuthin", "New Day", and "Same Old Story". Flame features Ronnie Laws at the top of his early game – working in a tight mix of jazz and soul put together with some great help from Wayne Henderson's At Home Productions – very much in the hit style that team was putting out at the time! The work's surprisingly open and hip compared to efforts like this from a decade later – still smooth in production, but with lots of room for instrumental solos, and a groove that's still more heavy on fusion influences than anything else! Laws plays tenor, flute, and soprano sax – and other players include Larry Dunn on keyboards and Melvin Robinson on guitar – and a few cuts feature chorus vocals, by hip singers who include Eloise and Debra Laws, Diane Reeves, and Phillip Bailey. Titles include "All For You", "These Days", "Flame", "Living Love", "Joy", "Live Your Life Away", and "Love Is Here".

Do yourself a favor, and buy this album – you won't be disappointed! The record is a gem all the way through – a really unique mixture of LA soul jazz and African rhythms, with a sound that's almost like Hugh Masekela sitting in with the Jazz Crusaders! Of course, there's a lot of Jazz Crusaders in the set – as Wilton Felder plays electric bass on the album, giving it a fantastic loping groove – but there's also plenty of unique albums on the record, especially its way of approaching the rhythms with a sly, syncopated groove that's immediately infectious! Duke's trumpet solos are great, and they're augmented by tenor work by Chester Washington and trombone by George Bohannon – all nicely grooving on the album's brilliant blend of jazzy tracks. Titles include "Jungle Funk", "Afrikaloo", "Akagruge", "Like It Is", "Mafam", and "Peace Brother". Somebody put this one on CD – and do us all a treat!

Do yourself a favor, and splurge on this album – you won't be disappointed! The record is a gem all the way through – a really unique mixture of LA soul jazz and African rhythms, with a sound that's almost like Hugh Masekela sitting in with the Jazz Crusaders! Of course, there's a lot of Jazz Crusaders in the set – as Wilton Felder plays electric bass on the album, giving it a fantastic loping groove – but there's also plenty of unique albums on the record, especially its way of approaching the rhythms with a sly, syncopated groove that's immediately infectious! Duke's trumpet solos are great, and they're augmented by tenor work by Chester Washington and trombone by George Bohannon – all nicely grooving on the album's brilliant blend of jazzy tracks. Titles include "Jungle Funk", "Afrikaloo", "Akagruge", "Like It Is", "Mafam", and "Peace Brother". Somebody put this one on CD – and do us all a treat!

A decade's worth of magic from the mighty Hugh Masekela – a sweet little set that brings together some of his most groovy tracks of the late 60s and early 70s – in a collection that's overflowing with goodness! Hugh's got a style here that's unlike anyone else – an approach that's rooted in South African jazz, which is definitely shown in his rhythmic progression – but taken to new heights in the Californian scene, where Hugh's music came into contact with folks like The Crusaders and some of the other cooler cats on the coast at the time. The result is a sublime blend of jazz, soul, and African rhythms – with tracks that include "Sipho", "The Boy's Doin It", "Ha Lese Le Di Khanna", "Kwa Blaney", "Stimela", "Maesha", "Phatsha Phatsha", "Child Of The Earth", and "U Dwi".

One of only two albums cut by the Four Souls group of drummer Lenny McBrowne – a really cooking combo that should have gotten greater exposure back in the day! The west coast group were clearly one of the hippest acts working on their scene at the time – as they've got a unique blend of soul jazz and modernism – one that cooks with Jazz Crusaders-like energy at points, but also has some sharper edges too – a bit in the vein of the wonderful JFK Quintet from the DC scene. Players in the group include Terry Trotter on piano, Don Sleet on trumpet, Daniel Jackson on sax, and Herbie Lewis on bass. Jackson's a real standout in the group – a player with a great edge and real sense of feeling, and one we'd love to hear more of. Titles include "Soul Sisters", "Invitation", "Dearly Beloved", "Lazinka's Tune", "Cerise", and "McBrowne's Galaxy".

A pair of classics from Sea Level – back to back on a single CD! First up is Cats On The Coast – sweet smooth grooves from Sea Level – a killer crossover 70s group, one with roots in the Allman Brothers, but a sound that's much more wide-reaching overall! This sublime album is an AOR classic – a set that graced countless collections back in the day, thanks to a warm blend of rock and soul elements – all tied up in the kind of tight production you might guess from the cover! There's still some southern roots present in the music – especially on a few of the Allman-like guitar licks – but the overall approach is more cool and compressed, with a sweet 70s Cali sort of vibe, and some nice jazz undercurrents too. Titles include "Midnight Pass", "Cats On The Coast", "Song For Amy", "Had To Fall", "That's Your Secret", and "It Hurts To Want It So Bad". On The Edge is the great second album from Sea Level – one of those records that loads of folks dug, back in the day – and not just the cats who remembered these guys for their work with The Allman Brothers! The set's got a tight blend of jazz, soul, and some crossover elements – almost rootsier mode of music melded with a Steely Dan/Crusaders sort of vibe – so that the fusion styles come together and really help the whole thing soar! Vocals often still echo the early years of the players, but the overall presentation has a much more LA vibe – despite the fact that the album was recorded at Capricorn Studios in Macon. Titles include "Electron Cold", "On The Wing", "A Lotta Colada", "Living In A Dream", and "King Grand".

Despite the "primitivist" sort of leanings you might expect from the "roots" in the title, this is actually a nice batch of tracks from the catalogs of Blue Note and World Pacific during the 60's – and they're all jazz tracks that have a slight Africanist influence, but which are certainly not African tracks themselves. The 13 tracks include loads of nice hard to find ones, including "Blue Dashiki" by Blue Mitchell, "Appointment in Ghana" by the Jazz Crusaders, "Marabi" by Cannonball Adderley, "Ghana Spice" Candido, "Zulu" by Randy Weston, "Zambia" by Lee Morgan, and "Follow Me To Africa" by Solomon Ilori & His Afro Drum Ensemble.

Herbie hits kind of a campy Now Sound groove on this one – in a style that actually works pretty darn well for his pop jazz flute stylings! The arrangements are by Jimmy Wisner, Arif Mardin, Oliver Nelson, and Richard Wess – and the tunes work best as swingin' 60s instrumentals, instead of serious jazz tunes. The record's got a great goofy cover with Herbie in kind of a Don Adams-esque pose, holding a flute with a site on it! Titles include an early version of The Crusaders' "Scratch", plus "Happy Brass", "Good Lovin", "Our Man Flint", "Theme From Malamondo", "Monday Monday", and "Philly Dog".

The Crusaders are really going strong at this point – in near-hit status, almost acting as the Steely Dan of LA jazz. The sound is certainly slicker than before, but in a way that's actually pretty darn nice – as Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, Stix Hooper, and Larry Carlton come together with effortless ease – dipping, turning, twisting, and still hitting a nice groove on the best tunes. Tracks include "Nite Crawler", "Feel It", "River Rat", "Free As The Wind", and "Sweet N Sour".

Some of the smoothest funky jazz ever recorded – and a great set of classic 70s tracks by the legendary Crusaders! By the time of these recordings, the group had already performed on countless soul jazz sides of their own, and moved from the 60s into the 70s with a tight brand of groove that was their very own. The group had no trouble crossing the borders between soul, jazz, and R&B – and effortlessly mixed funky rhythms, tight solos, sweet vocals, and impeccable production into a sound that still holds up magically today. This 11 track set features some of the group's best work from their ABC/Blue Thumb years – tunes that include "Street Life", "Way Back Home", "Creole", "Scratch", "Greasy Spoon", "Free As The Wind", "So Far Away", "I Felt The Love", and "Put It Where You Want It".

Great work from one of the funkiest periods in the career of the Jazz Crusaders – that point when they first dropped the "jazz" from their name, and started moving into groovier territory! The set's a bit electric, but never as much so as their later, bigger hits – just enough so that the basslines bump the tunes along strongly, and the keyboards start to sparkle in the mix too – but still leaving plenty of space for acoustic contributions on piano, trombone, and tenor. Arthur Adams joins the group for a bit of guitar, which is well-placed – and titles include the massive "Pass The Plate" medley, which runs for over 15 minutes – plus "Young Rabbits 71/72", "Goin' Down South", "Listen & You'll See", "Greasy Spoon", and "Treat Me Like Ya Treat Yaself".

A decade's worth of groundbreaking funk and African rhythms – all of it recorded by Hugh Masekela for his legendary Chisa label! Back in the 60s, Hugh cracked the American charts with a playful version of South African jazz – but he was also an even hipper cat than you'd guess from his hits, and worked with a variety of incredible acts to expand his sound – a good number of whom ended up recording for Hugh on the Chisa label, in a unique blend of American soul and African inspiration that was years ahead of its time! The Chisa sound was one of the first true forays into pan-global grooving – and it brought the sounds of Africa to the American mainstream at a level that few had managed before. Some groups were unique projects done for record – like the Johannesburg Street Band, which featured members of The Crusaders alongside Masekela – but others featured a variety of ex-patriots living in the US, with key singers and players who shine brightly under Hugh's guidance. This set really digs deep, and offers up some of the most heavily African-tuned tracks from Chisa's catalog – 14 titles that include "Witch Doctor" and "Ahvuomo" by Baranta with Miatta Fahinbulleh, "Joala" and "Za Labalaba" by The Zulus, "Awe Mfana" by Johannesburg Street Band, "Macongo" and "U Se Mcani" by Letta Mbulu, "Tepo" by Baranta, "Aredze" by The Zulus, "Mahlalela" by Letta Mbulu, and "Afro Beat Blues" by Ojah with Hugh Masekela.

God, we love this record – and we're not ashamed to admit it! Sure, it sold a gazillion copies – and sure, for some folks it showed the true demise of the Crusaders ensemble. But for us, it's a masterpiece of smooth fusion, and a landmark album of easy jazz that spawned countless imitators that could never hope to match Sample's simple and elegant use of funky riffing and lyrical chords – coming in with just the right dash of darkness when the record's in danger of sounding too light. Most of the rest of the Crusaders had a hand in the record, and the set's got the smooth west coast sound you'd expect from the title. Tracks include "Carmel", "Cannery Row", "Sunrise", and "More Beautiful Each Day".

An early 70s classic from The Crusaders – and a record that has the group perfectly poised between the rougher soul jazz of their roots and some of the tighter styles they brought into play during the 70s! The sound here is heavily electric – thanks to great keyboards from Joe Sample and bass from Wilton Felder – but the style isn't nearly as slick as on later albums recorded under the Crusaders name, thanks to the hipper, looser feel the group were allowed while working for the Chisa label! As on the first album recorded after the group shifted their name from the Jazz Crusaders, the set features added guitar work by Larry Carlton, David T Walker, and Arthur Adams – all of whom really help to emphasize the funkier side of the tracks while Wayne Henderson's trombone and Wilton Felder's tenor remind us they've still got a great talent for jazz! Titles include "Search For Soul", "Gotta Get It On", "Look Beyond That Hill", "Ain't Gon Change A Thing", and "A Message From The Inner City".

Great work from one of the funkiest periods in the career of the Jazz Crusaders – that point when they first dropped the "jazz" from their name, and started moving into groovier territory! The set's a bit electric, but never as much so as their later, bigger hits – just enough so that the basslines bump the tunes along strongly, and the keyboards start to sparkle in the mix too – but still leaving plenty of space for acoustic contributions on piano, trombone, and tenor. Arthur Adams joins the group for a bit of guitar, which is well-placed – and titles include the massive "Pass The Plate" medley, which runs for over 15 minutes – plus "Young Rabbits 71/72", "Goin' Down South", "Listen & You'll See", "Greasy Spoon", and "Treat Me Like Ya Treat Yaself".

Early soul jazz piano work from Takehiro Honda – recorded in a style that's quite different than most of his later albums! The sound here is full and rich – with Honda's work on the keys augmented by fuller backings arranged by Teddy Adams – all recorded in the US (we think), with a quality that's a fair bit like some of the best soul jazz coming out of LA at the end of the 60s! Honda plays both acoustic and electric piano – and the groove has a hiply vamping style that's always verging on funky, but which is a bit more laidback overall. The record echoes with plenty of the best influences from Les McCann, The Crusaders, Gerald Wilson, and other west coast soul jazz figures – and titles include "Greasy Spoon", "Sham Time", "Ain't Tell You A Good Way But", "Ain't It Funky Now", "What's Going On", and "Check Out Your Mind"

A stone classic from reedman Ronnie Laws – and an album that really helped set a whole new standard for funky fusion in the 70s! Laws works here with great Wayne Henderson production – which gives the album an even sharper sound than other Blue Note sets of this vintage – and that kind of tight blend of funk and jazz you'd find in the Crusaders, with a similar no-nonsense approach in the grooves! Henderson's got a great way of never being too smooth – and Laws responds with some wicked solos on tenor, soprano sax, and flute – soaring out over the course of the whole wonderful album. Titles include "Goodtime Ride", "Just Love", "Saturday Evening", "Friends & Strangers", "Nuthin Bout Nuthin", "New Day", and "Same Old Story".

One of those records you see so much it's easy to forget how great it is! Grover's a real genius with the sax on this record – taking a "less is more" cue from Stanley Turrentine's 70s work, and toning down his playing to an even tighter style than on the Kudu albums of earlier years, to a level of ultimate economy that really leaves us breathless. Sure, the record's not a raw bit of funkety funk – but we're just as enthralled at pure commercial genius as we are at unbridled underground talent, and this album's a masterpiece of pacing, playing, and presentation that shows Washington still steeped in the soul jazz roots from whence he came, brilliantly focused on reaching a larger audience through economical use of his genius. He hits a rarified level here that we'd only reserve for a small few – like Steely Dan or The Crusaders, both groups who teeter on the same brink, and make it work perfectly. Titles include "Asia's Theme", "Tell Me About It Now", "Feel It Comin", "Icey", and "The Answer In Your Eyes".

Blue Note Records plays the Beatles – on a great set of grooves that runs back to the 60s, and includes some other more recent performances of tunes first made famous by the Fab Four! The collection is heavy on soulful jazz numbers that really show off the sharp changes of Beatles tunes – the way they can be surprisingly great vehicles for jazzy expression, when in the hands of the right artists! Some cuts are from related Blue Note labels, some from the original – and titles include "Get Back" by The Jazz Crusaders, "Can't Buy Me Love" by Stanley Turrentine, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by Grant Green, "Oh Darling" by Joe Williams, "Yesterday" by Lee Morgan, "Hey Jude" by Jazz Crusaders, "Eleanor Rigby" by Three Sounds, "Come Together" by Cassandra Wilson & Dianne Reeves, and "Day In The Life" by Grant Green.

A pair of albums from saxophonist Wilton Felder – back to back on a single CD! We All Have A Star offers up solo sounds from Crusaders reedman Wilton Felder – a really great set that's very much in the best vibe of his larger group at the time – yet one that also offers up a stronger focus on Wilton's sublime solo work on tenor! The album's got plenty of Crusaders help on board – given that Stix Hooper and Joe Sample produced the set along with Wilton – and the vibe's a wonderful blend of electric backings, with especially great keyboard lines, and Felder's well-phrased saxophone lines over the top! A few cuts feature vocals – sung by Angela Bryant or Debbie Demoia Ross – and titles include "We All Have A Star", "I Know Who I Am", "The Cycles Of Time", "Why Believe", "Ride On", and "You & Me & Ecstasy". Inherit The Wind is one of the best Crusaders-related solo projects – a soulful bit of fusion from saxophonist Wilton Felder, co-produced with his fellow Crusaders! The album's got the best sunny finish of the group's late 70s albums – traces of Latin, funk, and soul bubbling through a warm jazzy mix – staying soulful all the way through, and coming up with a sound that's smooth, but never sleepy. The blueprint for a million other records – none of which ever sounded this good! Titles include "Insight", "LA Light", "Until The Morning Comes", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Inherit The Wind".

A landmark album from The Crusaders – and a set that really has them sweetening up their groove with lots of tasty R&B touches! The guitar's a bit more pronounced in the mix on this one – setting up some tightly funky rhythms that almost seem to free up the horns even more for solo work – resulting in a sound that brings together all the best bits of the LA scene into one impeccable album of smooth jazzy funk! Titles includes their classic "Stomp & Buck Dance", plus lots of other nice groovers like "Double Bubble", "Time Bomb", "The Well's Gone Dry", "Whispering Pines", "Lillies Of The Nile", "Greasy Spoon", and "Super Stuff".

Quincy just never stopped putting out classic soulful albums! This one, from the early 80s, features a smooth jazzy blend of tracks, with a strong nod to the kinds of souped-up studio sounds that were being used by groups like The Crusaders, but also with a lot of the kind of soulfulness that made earlier albums so great. Features vocals by Patti Austin, and includes winners like "Ai No Corrida", "The Dude", "Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me", "Velas", and "One Hundred Ways".