The Crusaders (formerly known as The Jazz Crusaders) were an American jazz/jazz fusion group performing from the 1960s to the 2010s. The group was known as the Jazz Crusaders from their formation in 1960 until shortening their name in 1971. The Crusaders played a wide assortment of genres, including straight ahead jazz, urban R&B, R&B-based jazz, and the blues. The band reached a commercial apex in 1979 with their hit single "Street Life", featuring lead vocals by Randy Crawford, and their accompanying album of the same name.[1]
The Crusaders at Knebworth Park, UK, Capital Radio Jazz Festival, 1982
High school friends Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder[2] (tenor saxophone) and Nesbert "Stix" Hooper (drums) formed their first band together, the Swingsters, in Houston, Texas in 1954. They played a mixture of jazz and R&B, and were joined by Wayne Henderson (trombone), Hubert Laws (flute), and Henry Wilson (bass). The group soon turned more to hard bop, and renamed themselves the Modern Jazz Sextet, but also recorded in a more R&B vein as the Nighthawks (or Nite Hawks).[3]
In 1960, Sample, Felder, Hooper and Henderson moved to Los Angeles and formed the Jazz Crusaders as a quintet with a succession of different bass players. Influenced by musicians such as Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey and John Coltrane,[4] the band signed to the Pacific Jazz label in 1961, and released 16 albums on the label over the subsequent eight years. With a front-line horn section of Felder and Henderson, the group's sound was rooted in hard bop, but with a slant towards R&B and soul music.[3]
The group then signed with the Chisa label, co-owned by trumpeter Hugh Masekela and producer Stewart Levine. Their 1970 album Old Socks, New Shoes reached No. 90 on the album chart, and was their last as the Jazz Crusaders. The decision was taken to call the group simply the Crusaders, so as not to limit their scope and potential audience. After a second album with Chisa, (Pass the Plate, 1971), and one album for the MoWest label (Hollywood, 1972) they signed with Blue Thumb Records, where they remained until the late 1970s. Their recordings increasingly adopted a jazz-funk style. They incorporated electric guitar and bass into their shows and recordings, as well as using Sample's electric piano and clavinet.[4] Guitarist Larry Carlton joined and featured on their albums in the early part of the decade. Bass duties were often handled by Felder, with Max Bennett contributing in the early/mid-70's and Robert "Pops" Popwell joining later in the decade.[3]
According to jazz critic Scott Yanow at AllMusic, however, "after a few excellent albums during the early part of the decade... the group began to decline in quality."[3] Sample later commented that the group was under commercial pressure from record companies to record jazzed-up versions of contemporary popular songs.[4] Henderson left to become a record producer in 1975, and the other musicians regularly and increasingly worked as session musicians with artists such as the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, and Randy Newman. With a growing crossover appeal, the group's most commercially successful recordings included the single "Put It Where You Want It" (No. 52 pop, 1972), and the albums The 2nd Crusade (No. 45 album, 1973), Southern Comfort (No. 31 album, 1974), Chain Reaction (No. 26 album, 1975), Those Southern Knights (No. 38 album, 1976), and Images (No. 34 album, 1978).[6]
The peak of the group's commercial success came with 1979's Street Life, with Randy Crawford as featured singer. The album peaked at No.18 on the pop album charts and the title track made the top 10 on the R&B chart, No.36 on Billboard′s Hot 100 chart, and No. 5 in the UK.[7] Later albums by the group featured singers Bill Withers and Joe Cocker. The live 1982 album Royal Jam featured guitarist B. B. King, bassist James Jamerson, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hooper left in 1983, and though Felder and Sample kept the group operating through the 1980s, the group's commercial success diminished.
Felder and Henderson reunited in the mid-1990s as the Crusaders.[3] Henderson later led a band called the Jazz Crusaders, in which Felder and Carlton also played, and Felder and Sample reunited as the Crusaders in 2003.[4]
Wayne Henderson died in Culver City, California on April 5, 2014;[8] Joe Sample died in Houston, Texas on September 12, 2014;[9] and Wilton Felder died in Whittier, California on September 27, 2015.[10]
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Related Research Articles
Joseph Leslie Sample was an American jazz keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, after which its name was shortened to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991, and also the 2003 reunion album Rural Renewal.
Wayne Maurice Henderson was an American soul jazz and hard bop trombonist and record producer. In 1961, he co-founded the soul jazz/hard bop group The Jazz Crusaders. Henderson left the group in 1976 to pursue a career in producing, but revived The Jazz Crusaders in 1995.
Street Life is a studio album by the American jazz band the Crusaders. It was a top 20 album on three Billboard charts and represents the peak of the band's commercial popularity. The title track, featuring singer Randy Crawford, was a Top 40 pop single and became the group's most successful entry on the soul chart. It was No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. "Street Life" also hit the disco chart, peaking at No. 75, and was re-recorded by Doc Severinsen with Crawford reprising her vocal for the opening sequence of the noir crime drama Sharky's Machine, directed by Burt Reynolds in 1981. This faster paced version was also featured in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, released in 1997.
Wilton Lewis Felder was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as The Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Want You Back" and "ABC" and on Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On".
Nesbert "Stix" Hooper is an American drummer and founding member of The Crusaders.
It's Never Too Late is an album by jazz bassist Monk Montgomery, released in 1969 on Chisa Records/Motown Records. It is the first of his four solo albums, and features members of The Crusaders.
Powerhouse is a 1969 album by The Jazz Crusaders. It was their fourteenth album produced by Richard Bock for World Pacific Jazz Records. It was the first album in which Joe Sample played on the Fender Rhodes and according to Thom Jurek in his AllMusic review, would mark a turning point for the band.
Freedom Sound is the debut album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1961 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
The Jazz Crusaders at the Lighthouse is a live album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1962 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
Lookin' Ahead is the second album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1962 and released on Pacific Jazz Records.
Tough Talk is the fourth album by The Jazz Crusaders, recorded in 1963 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
Heat Wave is the fifth album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1963 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
Stretchin' Out is the seventh album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1964 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
The Thing is the eighth album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1965 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
Live at the Lighthouse '66 is a live album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1966 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
Talk That Talk is the ninth album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1966 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
Uh Huh is the ninth studio album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1967 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
Lighthouse '68 is a live album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1967 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
Lighthouse '69 is a live album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1969 and released on the Pacific Jazz label.
The Festival Album is a live album by The Jazz Crusaders recorded in 1966 at Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island and Pacific Jazz Festival in California. It was released on the Pacific Jazz label that same year.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (1sted.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p.164. ISBN0-89820-155-1.
1 2 Whitburn, Joel (1985). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums 1955-1985 (1sted.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p.90. ISBN0-89820-054-7.
↑ Betts, Graham (2004). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004 (1sted.). London: Collins. p.182. ISBN0-00-717931-6.
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