Street Life – 2003
The Crusaders
Randy Crawford and Joe Sample bring back the Crusaders’ biggest hit
The Jazz Crusaders were originally comprised of pianist Joe Sample, tenor-saxophonist Wilton Felder, trombonist Wayne Henderson, drummer Stix Hooper, and a variety of different bassists.
A soulful hard bop group, they gradually opened their playing to more r&bish influences, changing their name to simply the Crusaders in the early 1970s.
The Crusaders, even with Henderson leaving the group, lasted until the early 1990s, having their biggest commercial success with 1978’s “Street Life” which featured singer Randy Crawford.
In 2003, the band had a partial reunion at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Sample, Felder and Randy Crawford plus guitarist Ray Parker Jr. being featured with a larger ensemble, performing a definitive version of “Street Life.”
-Scott Yanow
Ella Fitzgerald