Sausalito

Charles Earland - Living Black! (1970)

Recorded in 1970 at the Key Club, Living Black! is notable for many reasons, not the least of which is that it showcased Earland in a live setting at his most inspired. From choosing his sidemen to material to reading the audience to pure instrumental execution, there isn't a weak moment on this date, nor a sedentary one. Earland makes the band roll on all burners from the git and never lets up. Consisting of four extended tunes, there's the burning rhythm and stomp of "Key Club Cookout," which blazes with wisdom and rhythm fire. Earland's own soloing is revelatory, but it is the way he drags absolutely unexpected performances from his sidemen that makes him so special as a bandleader. In this case, Grover Washington never played like this again on a record; deep in the soul groove on his tenor, he turned it inside out, looking for new embouchures in which to get the sounds out of the horn. He dug deep inside his trick bag and left no one wanting. Likewise, guitarist Maynard Parker, who came from the Chicago blues school, gets to exercise that side of his West Side soul personality -- check out his break on "Westbound No. 9." The long blues strut of "Killer Joe" is what drives the tune, the longest track on the record. It features a slow, strolling horn line from Washington and trumpeter Gary Chandler that opens out onto a gorgeously pastoral frame before popping out with the blues feel once again. Parker's guitar playing fills all the places Earland chooses not to, so the band's density is total. There is a moving and instrumentally astonishing short version of "Milestones" that closes the set, but it wasn't even necessary. Everybody who was there, no doubt -- as well as any listener with blood instead of sawdust in her or his veins -- had their minds blown long before.

By Thom Jurek in All Music Guide

Styles:
Jazz Funk
Soul Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Key Club Cookout (09:31)
02 - Westbound No. 9 (08:19)
03 - Killer Joe (14:28)
04 -Milestones (04:34)
05 - More Today Than Yesterday (08:20)
06 -Message from a Black Man (09:59)

Line-up:
Charles Earland - organ
Grover Washington Jr. - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Maynard Parker - guitar
Gary Chandler - trumpet
Jesse Kilpatrick - drums
Buddy Caldwell - congas

Grover Washington Jr. - Let it Flow

Grover Washington Jr. - Medley (1990)

01 - Hits Medley: Inner City Blues/Mercy Mercy Me/Where is the Love/Knucklehead/Black Frost/Santa Cruzin'/Just the Two of Us/Feels So Good/Sausalito

Grover Washington Live in Philadelphia (1981)

Tracks:
01 - Winelight
02 - Let it Flow
03 - One the Dark Side
04 - Make me a Memory
05 - Just the Two of Us

Line-up:
Grover Washington Jr. - Alto Sax
Richard Tee - Keyboards
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion
Paul Griffin - Synthetizer
Eric Gale - Guitar
Anthony Jackson - Bass
Steve Gadd - Drums
Zack Sanders - Vocal

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

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

Winelight