Classic 70s jazz!
Olukayode Balogun | Leeds, England | 05/01/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Alto saxophonist Hank Crawford has put out quite a number of enjoyable albums but this is definitely one of my all time favourites. It's not an easy album to get hold of these days and has been given 'rare' status by many music magazines. This particular CD is a Japanese import and I got it on here at a good price. I remember paying a second-hand record store £16 for it on vinyl many, many years ago, at a time when £16 was a lot of money.
Produced by Creed Taylor and arranged by Dave Matthews, it features people like Eric Gale on guitar, Gary King (Bob James's side man in the early years) on bass, the legendary Ralph McDonald & Idris Muhammad on percussion and Steve Gadd on drums. Patti Austin also puts in an appearance with a vocal solo on the title track. Patti is one of my favourite female vocalists ever, so I'm winning all round here.
It's classic 70s jazz. As the title of the CD might suggest, with a full orchestra the music is very symphonic, very busy, but it works. I love the entire album but I do love the second half a bit more than the first. "Love Won't Let Me Wait" is one of my favourite jazz performances of all time. I find Eric Gale's opening chords simply heart melting.
A bit of trivia to end the review: Many years later, A Tribe Called Quest credited the Average White Band's "Love Your Life" as the basis for their hit "Check The Rhime" from their now classic album The Low End Theory. Listen to Hank Crawford's incredibly funky "Baby! This Love I Have" and see if you agree with me that this sounds much more the likely source.
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Track Listings (8) - Disc #1