The Weekend Spin [Grover, Chestnut, Hancock and TPE]

Tags

African American, Funk, Jazz, Jazz Funk, Keyboards, Piano

Season’s Greeting’s, our apologies for posting “The Weekend Spin”  a little late today. You know how it goes with the Holiday festivities and such. We hope that you’re having a fabulous and safe weekend. On the menu this week, we’re featuring the long awaited re-release of “Soul Box” by Grover, also on tap a classic Hancock fusion jam “Head Hunters,” finally in the mix The Philadelphia Experiment and Christmas jazz with pianist Cyrus Chestnut rounds out this weeks “Spin.”

Grover Washington Jr. | Soul Box [Kudu/Contemporary Jazz/1973]

Grover Washington Jr., Soul Box

The early work of alto saxophonist and composer Grover Washington, Jr. is a rare and beautiful thing to behold. His entire Kudu period, marked by the albums Inner City Blues, All the King’s Horses, Soul Box, Mister Magic, and Feels So Good, is brilliant, solid urban groove jazz played with grace, mean chops, and slippery funkiness. Soul Box, a double LP recorded in 1973, has Creed Taylor‘s production enhanced by a symphony orchestra and full-blown jazz band arranged and conducted by Bob James. Some of the session men include Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Eric Gale, Idris Muhammad, Airto, and Richard Tee. Soul Box only contains seven cuts. Among them are truly innovative reads of Weather Report‘s “Taurian Matador,” Stevie Wonder‘s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” a side-long jam on Marvin Gaye‘s “Trouble Man” (the album’s centerpiece and masterpiece), and the deep funk of Norman Whitfield‘s “Masterpiece.” “Trouble Man,” however, is the cut on which all the contradictions of the session come to bear and are resolved due in large part to Washington’s deeply lyrical improvising and James‘ ability to layer an orchestra into a groove.~ Allmusic.com/Thom Jurek

Saltman Knowles Quintet | Return Of The Composer

Tags

African American, Female Vocalist, Jazz

Saltman Knowles Quintet

Saltman Knowles Quintet | Return Of The Composer [Modern Jazz]

Return of the Composer is the fifth recording produced by Saltman Knowles. It features original compositions and expresses a similar sentiment to the previous release ‘It’s About the Melody.’ While their music could be considered part of the …    Full Descriptionmodern jazz mainstream, it has its unusual and distinctive qualities. The beautiful voice of Lori Williams Chisholm is often used as part of the ensembles and, other than on ‘Pain Management,’ she is mostly heard singing wordlessly; her scatting is exquisite. The original songs generally feature haunting and strangely catchy melodies, very original chord changes, and infectious rhythms. There is much to discover on this memorable outing.

Composers: Mark Saltman and William Knowles. ~ CDUniverse.com

Sultry `Santa Baby’ singer Eartha Kitt dies at 81

Tags

Actor, African American, Female Vocalist

Eartha Kitt

NEW YORK (AP) — Eartha Kitt, the self-proclaimed “sex kitten” whose sultry voice and catlike purr attracted fans even as she neared 80, has died. The singer, dancer and actress was 81.

Family spokesman Andrew Freedman said Kitt, who was recently treated at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, died Thursday in Connecticut of colon cancer.

Dubbed the “most exciting woman in the world” by Orson Welles, Kitt’s career spanned six decades, from her start as a dancer with the famed Katherine Dunham troupe to cabarets and acting and singing on stage, in movies and on television.