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The Best of the Jazz Crusaders [Pacific Jazz]

The Jazz Crusaders
1 disc

1. Young Rabbits, The
2. Freedom Sound
3. Appointment in Ghana
4. Congolese Sermon
5. New Time Shuffle
6. Outback
7. Bachafillen
8. Scratch
9. Firewater
Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 89283
Credits

Producer
Engineer
The Jazz Crusaders: Wilton Felder (tenor saxophone); Wayne Henderson (trombone); Joe Sample (piano); Nesbert "Stix" Hooper (drums).
Additional personnel: Roy Gaines, Joe Pass (guitar); Victor Gaskin, Jimmy Bond, Monk Montgomery, Leroy Vinnegar, Buster Williams (bass); Nesbert "Stix" Hooper (drums).
Compilation producer: Michael Cuscuna.
Includes liner notes by Tom Evered.
THE BEST OF THE JAZZ CRUSADERS contains a mixture of live and studio tracks recorded between 1961 and 1966. The live tracks were recorded at The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California on August 5 & 6, 1962.
In their earliest days, the core group of musicians from Houston, Texas now known to jazz, R&B and pop fans as The Crusaders were known as The Jazz Crusaders. Their approach and repertoire bore a strong resemblance to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
Personnel: Joe Pass, Roy Gaines (guitar); Wilton Felder (tenor saxophone); Wayne Henderson (trumpet, trombone); Joe Sample (piano); Stix Hooper (drums).
Liner Note Author: Tom Evered.
Recording information: Lighthouse (05/1961-07/1966).
Photographer: Ray Avery.
As the Jazz Crusaders recorded often on Pacific Jazz throughout the 1960s, boiling down that output to a mere nine songs cannot adequately represent the best material by the band. For the casual fan (of either jazz or the group), though, it's an hour of good music, displaying the trombone-sax combination that set them apart from most other jazz ensembles on both original compositions and covers of tunes by Wes Montgomery and Jackie McLean. Spanning 1961-66, this demonstrates their facility with both hard bop ("The Young Rabbits," "Congolese Sermon") and songs with soulful hooks that gave them crossover appeal to some of the pop audience ("New Time Shuffle" and "Freedom Sound," both written by Joe Sample). ~ Richie Unterberger