Southern Jazz Music

Ok, let's get something straight right up front. This IS great music and worthy of your hard-earned money. This AIN'T jazz regardless of what all these other reviewers might think. Once upon a time the gentlemen who made this music worked under the moniker of The Jazz Crusaders. People, there is a reason why thy dropped the word "Jazz" from their namesake. This is funk/r&b/rock/pop music with jazz instrumentation and the musicians work from a body of knowledge they acquired while working as jazz musicians. It is very enjoyable despite any labels one might like to apply.

Enough of that. This is great music, one of The Crusaders' early offerings. It was either their third or fourth opus if memory serves me correctly. I owned Southern Nights on 8 Track when it first came out. I have fond memories of driving around in my souped up 1973 Pontiac Lemans and playing this quite a bit. While everyone else in my circle was still stuck on Dark Side of the Moon and Stairway to Heaven I was groovin' to the Crusaders' funk. Just listen to Greasy Spoon. It is right down there wallowing around in the filthiest, nastiest blues you can imagine.

I strongly recommend this one, it was one of the last releases before Joe Sample and the other guys started allowing the production to get in the way of making great music - I think there were a couple more good ones actually, Those Southern Knights for example.

After picking this up and playing it non-stop for the past 24 hours I think I'm going to have to pick up the entire 1970 - 1975 catalog. I play guitar in a "jazz" band and I think we would do very well for ourselves to lighten up and play some of this funky stuff.

Buy it.

And by the way, if you like the early Crusaders then I recommend picking up Herbie Hancock's Fat Albert Rotunda. Released in 1970 (2 full years before the Crusaders dropped "jazz" from their moniker and re-invented themselves, Herbie's Fat Albert Rotunda may very well have been the model for the Crusaders sound. It is strikingly similar. Fat Albert Rotunda is available on Mwandishi Herbie Hancock - The Complete Warner Bros Recordings.

i was looking for this album in one of the amazon lists of essential jazz tonight so that i could look in similar style albums for something new. as i failed to find this album listed in any of the 12 lists (12!), i thought whomever put those lists together was obviously either too young to be aware of this album, or simply too clueless.
this is an album that i would put in the top ten of any list of jazz that i would create. these musicians were incredible in this album (and in Free As The Wind), and this album contains maybe my favorite all time jazz instrumental (the whole album is instrumental, as i recall).
there are no bad pieces on this album. like pink floyd's the dark side of the moon, or peter gabriel's so, you just move from one outstanding tune to the next. and it never gets old. i've been listening to it since it came out in 1974 and i still have to turn up the sound when one of my compilations plays a tune from this album.
BUY IT.
and don't forget to turn up the volume.

WOW. The moment you press play (make sure the volume is HIGH) you will be a huge fan. The drums and bass together provide an extra funky-pocket for the rest of these guys to throw down upbeat to mellow jazz/grooves. This album has great sound quality, close to later Steely Dan albums. Buy it. Like another wrote before me, "it's greasy funk".

An excellent choice for MCA to punch out in 1997. This CD combines the complete Double LP issued in 1974 from Blue Thumb records. The original liner notes are lacking but that is the only hiccup with this CD.

The combined talents of Joe Sample(Keyboards), Wayne Henderson (Trombone), Wilton Felder(Tenor Sax), Stix Hooper(Drums) and Larry Carlton(Guitar) take this CD to the pinnacle of the Crusaders career.

Tight and well-balanced with a musical bravado that matched the time (1974). It still does.

Combine the Crusaders "Groove Crusade" with "Southern Comfort" and you will have a complete retrospective of one of the Grand Groups of Funk.

This CD captures the Crusaders at their peak: Driving, infections rhythms, compositions built to solo over, great ensemble arrangements and top-notch solos by Wilton Felder (tenor and soprano sax), Joe Sample (piano), Wayne Henderson, trombone and Larry carlton, guitar.

Tremendous music from start to finish, with Felder's tenor solo on "Whispering Pines" and soprano solo on "Lilies of the Nile" especially delightful.

Ok, let's get something straight right up front. This IS great music and worthy of your hard-earned money. This AIN'T jazz regardless of what all these other reviewers might think. Once upon a time the gentlemen who made this music worked under the moniker of The Jazz Crusaders. People, there is a reason why thy dropped the word "Jazz" from their namesake. This is funk/r&b/rock/pop music with jazz instrumentation and the musicians work from a body of knowledge they acquired while working as jazz musicians. It is very enjoyable despite any labels one might like to apply.

Enough of that. This is great music, one of The Crusaders' early offerings. It was either their third or fourth opus if memory serves me correctly. I owned Southern Nights on 8 Track when it first came out. I have fond memories of driving around in my souped up 1973 Pontiac Lemans and playing this quite a bit. While everyone else in my circle was still stuck on Dark Side of the Moon and Stairway to Heaven I was groovin' to the Crusaders' funk. Just listen to Greasy Spoon. It is right down there wallowing around in the filthiest, nastiest blues you can imagine.

I strongly recommend this one, it was one of the last releases before Joe Sample and the other guys started allowing the production to get in the way of making great music - I think there were a couple more good ones actually, Those Southern Knights for example.

After picking this up and playing it non-stop for the past 24 hours I think I'm going to have to pick up the entire 1970 - 1975 catalog. I play guitar in a "jazz" band and I think we would do very well for ourselves to lighten up and play some of this funky stuff.

Buy it.

And by the way, if you like the early Crusaders then I recommend picking up Herbie Hancock's Fat Albert Rotunda. Released in 1970 (2 full years before the Crusaders dropped "jazz" from their moniker and re-invented themselves, Herbie's Fat Albert Rotunda may very well have been the model for the Crusaders sound. It is strikingly similar. Fat Albert Rotunda is available on Mwandishi Herbie Hancock - The Complete Warner Bros Recordings.

i was looking for this album in one of the amazon lists of essential jazz tonight so that i could look in similar style albums for something new. as i failed to find this album listed in any of the 12 lists (12!), i thought whomever put those lists together was obviously either too young to be aware of this album, or simply too clueless.
this is an album that i would put in the top ten of any list of jazz that i would create. these musicians were incredible in this album (and in Free As The Wind), and this album contains maybe my favorite all time jazz instrumental (the whole album is instrumental, as i recall).
there are no bad pieces on this album. like pink floyd's the dark side of the moon, or peter gabriel's so, you just move from one outstanding tune to the next. and it never gets old. i've been listening to it since it came out in 1974 and i still have to turn up the sound when one of my compilations plays a tune from this album.
BUY IT.
and don't forget to turn up the volume.

WOW. The moment you press play (make sure the volume is HIGH) you will be a huge fan. The drums and bass together provide an extra funky-pocket for the rest of these guys to throw down upbeat to mellow jazz/grooves. This album has great sound quality, close to later Steely Dan albums. Buy it. Like another wrote before me, "it's greasy funk".

An excellent choice for MCA to punch out in 1997. This CD combines the complete Double LP issued in 1974 from Blue Thumb records. The original liner notes are lacking but that is the only hiccup with this CD.

The combined talents of Joe Sample(Keyboards), Wayne Henderson (Trombone), Wilton Felder(Tenor Sax), Stix Hooper(Drums) and Larry Carlton(Guitar) take this CD to the pinnacle of the Crusaders career.

Tight and well-balanced with a musical bravado that matched the time (1974). It still does.

Combine the Crusaders "Groove Crusade" with "Southern Comfort" and you will have a complete retrospective of one of the Grand Groups of Funk.

This CD captures the Crusaders at their peak: Driving, infections rhythms, compositions built to solo over, great ensemble arrangements and top-notch solos by Wilton Felder (tenor and soprano sax), Joe Sample (piano), Wayne Henderson, trombone and Larry carlton, guitar.

Tremendous music from start to finish, with Felder's tenor solo on "Whispering Pines" and soprano solo on "Lilies of the Nile" especially delightful.

Track Listing:

1. Benares (Sergio Ghivelder) [6:30]
2. All Blues (Miles Davis) [6:04]
3. Seringal (Henrique Lissovsky) [4:00]
4. Chayenne (Paulo Russo) [4:54]
5. Dadae,o (Henrique Lissovsky) [4:00]
6. Espanha (Paulo Russo) [2:56]
7. Raga (Sergio Ghivelder) [6:17]
8. Bossa (Sergio Ghivelder) [3:18]
9. Francisco (Paulo Russo) [9:55]

Light the candles, open the red wine, spark up the j_ _ _ t. This CD is an icon of social gatherings and posseses one of the finest jazz/funk sax solos ever heard. I saw Maceo live in the south of France at an outdoor Summer concert. Nothing beats the mood laid down by this Master of Funk!

On this well-rounded and consistently memorable release, Maceo Parker sticks mostly to funky blues but is also impressive on a boppish version of "The Way You Look Tonight." He splits his time between fronting an organ combo, leading a reunion with fellow James Brown alumni trombonist Fred Wesley and tenor-saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, and on two songs he is joined by the enthuisastic Rebirth Brass Band. Maceo Parker only takes one vocal so the emphasis throughout is on his soulful alto, making this among his most rewarding jazz recordings.
Find more on the website http://www.maceo-parker.com

...i had this on cassette tape years ago and i am so sad now not to have it in my cd collection...i will be rectifying that very shortly! this is a great cd...wait a minute...all of his cd's are great! get this disc, 'mo roots' and 'live on planet groove' (especially that one!)...maceo is funkin shtuff up quite lovely! and dont forget to check out the j.b. horns cd's...ohellyeah! nobody blows a horn like this!
(bonus maceo cut: check out the solo he provides on de la soul's buhloone mind state...some-southern-slow-funk-fa-sho!)

I first heard this disc at a house party 3 years ago and I STILL turn it on when I'm making dinner, getting ready to go out, driving around town or funkin' it up. Without a dime in my pocket for a concert ticket, I once hid in the woods behind the outdoor venue where Maceo was appearing with some friends and wine and lived it up anyway. Dancing to these tunes with a group of friends can't be beat and the combos with Rebirth are smokin'. I have shared this album with everyone I know and almost all of them have run out for their own copy. Beware when you introduce this disc at parties, though. We have had an empty-case scare almost every time, but it always finds its way home.

Light the candles, open the red wine, spark up the j_ _ _ t. This CD is an icon of social gatherings and posseses one of the finest jazz/funk sax solos ever heard. I saw Maceo live in the south of France at an outdoor Summer concert. Nothing beats the mood laid down by this Master of Funk!

On this well-rounded and consistently memorable release, Maceo Parker sticks mostly to funky blues but is also impressive on a boppish version of "The Way You Look Tonight." He splits his time between fronting an organ combo, leading a reunion with fellow James Brown alumni trombonist Fred Wesley and tenor-saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, and on two songs he is joined by the enthuisastic Rebirth Brass Band. Maceo Parker only takes one vocal so the emphasis throughout is on his soulful alto, making this among his most rewarding jazz recordings.
Find more on the website http://www.maceo-parker.com

...i had this on cassette tape years ago and i am so sad now not to have it in my cd collection...i will be rectifying that very shortly! this is a great cd...wait a minute...all of his cd's are great! get this disc, 'mo roots' and 'live on planet groove' (especially that one!)...maceo is funkin shtuff up quite lovely! and dont forget to check out the j.b. horns cd's...ohellyeah! nobody blows a horn like this!
(bonus maceo cut: check out the solo he provides on de la soul's buhloone mind state...some-southern-slow-funk-fa-sho!)

I first heard this disc at a house party 3 years ago and I STILL turn it on when I'm making dinner, getting ready to go out, driving around town or funkin' it up. Without a dime in my pocket for a concert ticket, I once hid in the woods behind the outdoor venue where Maceo was appearing with some friends and wine and lived it up anyway. Dancing to these tunes with a group of friends can't be beat and the combos with Rebirth are smokin'. I have shared this album with everyone I know and almost all of them have run out for their own copy. Beware when you introduce this disc at parties, though. We have had an empty-case scare almost every time, but it always finds its way home.