George Benson - The Other Side of Abbey Road (1970)

Just three weeks after the U.S. release of the Beatles' swan song, Abbey Road, Creed Taylor ushered George Benson into the studio to begin a remarkably successful pop-jazz translation of the record (complete with a parody of the famous cover, showing Benson with guitar crossing an Eastern urban street). It is a lyrical album, with a hint of the mystery and a lot of the cohesive concept of the Beatles' original despite the scrambled order of the tunes. Benson is given some room to stretch out on guitar, sometimes in a bluesy groove, and there are more samples of his honeyed vocals than ever before (oddly, his voice would not be heard again by record-buyers until he signed with Warner Bros.). Don Sebesky's arrangements roam freely from baroque strings to a full-throated big band, and Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Fortune, and Hubert Laws get some worthy solo space. Yet for all its diversity, the record fits together as a whole more tightly than any other George Benson project, thanks to his versatile talents and the miraculous overarching unity of the Beatles' songs. One wonders if the Fab Four liked it, too.

By Richard S. Ginell in All Music Guide

Style:
Crossover-Jazz
Jazz Pop
Guitar Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Golden Slumbers/ You Never Give Me Your Money (04:48)
02 - Because / Come Together (07:23)
03 - Oh! Darling (03:59)
04 - Here Comes the Sun / I Want You (She's So Heavy) (09:02)
05 - Something / Octopus's Garden / The End (06:23)

Line-up:
George Benson – guitar, vocal
Herbie Hancock - piano, organ, harpsichord
Ernie Hayes - piano
Bob James - piano
Ron Carter - Bass guitar
Gerry Jemmott - Bass guitar
Idris Muhammad - drums
Ed Shaughnessy - drums
Ray Barretto - percussion
Andy Gonzalez - percussion
Wayne Andre - trombone, euphonium
Don Ashworth - baritone saxophone
Sonny Fortune - alto saxophone
Jerome Richardson - tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute
Mel Davis - trumpet, flugelhorn
Bernie Glow - trumpet
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Marvin Stamm - trumpet
Phil Bodner - flute, oboe
Hubert Laws - flute
Raoul Poliakin - violin
Max Pollikoff - violin
George Ricci - cello
Emanuel Vardi - viola

Grover Washington Jr. - Mister Magic (1974)

For anyone who enjoys taking bites from the now forbidden fruits of jazz, smooth jazz has probably crossed your palate once or twice. Just as rock music fans treat adult contemporary with certain disdain, so do jazz fans in regards to smooth. It is certainly easy to see why. The arrangements are flooded with lush pop undertones and probably even worse; the music lacks jazz's guttural attack. Smooth jazz self-destructed in a storm of cheesy synth and repetitive drum machine beats during the '80s... remember some of David Sanborn's later records-1988's Close-up-or the horrid comatose of Kenny G?
Before all this smooth had been an interesting and driven alternative to fusion. Once the sugar coating is stripped away, the chops are often solid. What we have forgotten is smooth featured some killer players who would be great regardless of their chosen genre. With that idea in mind, we as jazz fans need to revaluate some of these records. There is no better representative than the late Grover Washington, Jr.'s 1974 masterpiece, Mister Magic.
The first record for anyone looking to hear a positive example of smooth is all here. Fused an R&B groove that is produced and arranged by future smooth mogul pianist Bob James, Mister Magic was a spotlight for one jazz's great sax players. Washington absolutely breathed a fluid and caressingly powerful style that was unique to him. Since the style called for easy playing, he could sit back and let the chops glide like water flowing down a river. His melodies and tone are always first rate, but there was a certain magic, if you will, to what this record has said about its artist. Many of the smooth players relied on the direct approach to playing and soloing, but Washington allowed his himself room to open up, and this where his music has the most to offer to the rest of jazz fans. Sure the polish is on there, but the solos are not afraid to take flight either.
The title track harnesses the chrome plated polish of this genre's sound and lets in the tasty bits. It starts out with a funk groove-did someone say Head Hunters?-and slowly builds into some finely gnarled solos by Grover and guitarist Eric Gale. It was a crossover hit that grooved the light rock AM crowd of the '70s and is still a great spin today.
This record is a lighter approach for those who are not willing to check the harder edged sounds that are deliciously spread over Steely Dan's records, but these jazzites don't need rock mixes. If you are still thinking I might be crazy, just think back to the 1980 hit with Bill Withers, "Just the Two of Us," on Washington's Winelight. Godammit, you want to blow it off as easy listening light rock, but that solo is mind blowing. There is a lot more where that came from. Just open up and let the light fluffy background groove fly away and you will be rewarded for your time with Grover Washington because he was truly one of the best we had.
by Trevor McLaren in All About Jazz

Styles:
Crossover Jazz
Soul Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Earth Tones (12:23)
02 - Passion Flower (05:36)
03 - Mister Magic (09:01)
04 - Black Frost (06:06)

Line-up:
Grover Washington, Jr. - saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Phil Bodner - baritone saxophone
Jon Faddis, Marvin Stamm - trumpet, flugelhorn
Randy Brecker - trumpet
Wayne Andre - trombone
Tony Studd - bass trombone
Bob James - piano, electric piano, keyboards
Harvey Mason, Sr. - drums
Ralph MacDonald - percussion
Eric Gale - guitar
Harry Glickman, Joseph Malin, Harold Kohon, David Nadien, Matthew Raimondi, Max Ellen, Paul Gershman, Harry Lookofsky - violin
The Manny Vardi Strings, Al Brown - viola
Charles McCracken, Alan Shulman - cello

Paul Desmond - Skylark (1973)

Moving over to the CTI label with Creed Taylor, Paul Desmond injects a bit of the 1970s into his sound, obtaining agreeable if not totally simpatico results. Here, the cool altoist is teamed with the progressive-slanted drumming of Jack DeJohnette (who might have been too busy a drummer for his taste), and Bob James' electric and acoustic pianos, with Ron Carter as the bass anchor, Gene Bertoncini on rhythm guitar, and, most interestingly, another individualist, Gabor Szabo, on solo electric guitar. For the first and only time, even taking into account the most inspired moments of Jim Hall, Desmond is not the most interesting soloist on his own record, for it is Szabo who most consistently draws you in with his mesmerizing incantations over vamps from the rhythm section. For those who missed it the first time, Desmond remakes "Take Ten" -- without the Middle Eastern elements -- "Romance de Amor" is eventually dominated by Szabo, and the inclusion of "Was a Sunny Day" proves that Desmond's involvement with the music of Paul Simon in 1970 was not a passing infatuation. Don Sebesky is credited with the "arrangements" but his orchestrating hand is not felt except for a single solo cello (George Ricci) in an adaptation of Purcell ("Music for a While"). It's a cautious change of pace for Desmond, although the fiercer context into which he was placed doesn't really fire his imagination.

by Richard S. Ginell at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Cool
Easy Pop
Ballads
Bossa Nova

Tracks:
01 Take Ten
02 Romance de Amor
03 Was a Sunny Day
04 Music for a While
05 Skylark
06 Indian Summer

Line-up:
Paul Desmond - alto saxophone
Gabor Szabo - guitar (soloist)
Gene Bertoncini - guitar
Ron Carter - bass
Jack DeJohnette - drums
Bob James - piano / electric piano
Hilary James - piano / electric piano
Ralph MacDonald - percussion
George Ricci - cello

Idris Muhammad - Power of Soul (1974)

This album is one of the reasons that Idris Muhammad is regarded as the drumming king of groove. Featuring the arrangements and keyboards of Bob James, the saxophone punch of Grover Washington, Jr., guitarist Joe Beck, trumpeter Randy Brecker, percussionist Ralph MacDonald, and the knife-edge slick production of Creed Taylor, this 1974 issue is a burning piece of deep, jazzy soul and grooved-out bliss. The funk flies fast and heavy, particularly on the title track (Jimi Hendrix's tune), with soaring solos by Grover and James, who fall down in the groove to Muhammad's powerful pace, setting from the heart of the pocket. Beck's own solo is special in that he moves against the tempo just a bit, but that only increases the listener's dependence on the groove of Muhammad. Clocking in at only 34 minutes it's a perfect slice of the raw-onion emotion Muhammad was pulling down at the time. While there isn't a weak track in the four, it's Washington's "Loran's Dance" that takes the cake, even over Hendrix. While the former is dark and heavy, and the immediately preceding tracks by James and Beck, respectively, are light, fancy, free nods to Creed Taylor's hoping for a jazz radio single, it's "Loran's Dance" that showcases not only Washington as an aspiring writer in his own right (this is only a year before Feels So Good and Mr. Magic appeared), but also as a talented interpreter of the edges where jazz and soul come together. James' arrangements are tight, and everybody gets to solo with a little more freedom and grace. Muhammad keeps the pocket wide and Brecker and Washington dance all around in it as James plays the accents furtively. This is some easy-moving, yet musically complex jazz. There is great power in these four tracks to make you move or reflect or just tap your foot while nodding "yeah" at your speakers imperceptibly.

by Thom Jurek at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Post-Bop
Crossover Jazz

Tracks:
01 Power of Soul
02 Piece of Mind
03 The Saddest Thing
04 Loran's Dance

Line-up:
Randy Brecker - trumpet / flugelhorn
Bob James - keyboards
Gary King - bass
Ralph MacDonald - percussion
Idris Muhammad drums vocals
Grover Washington - sopano and tenor saxophone