1. Spiral
2. Viva De Funk
3. Creepin'
4. Way Back Home
5. Carnival Of The Night
6. Put It Where You Want It
7. The Thrill Is Gone
8. Soul Shadows
9. Street Life
10. Imagine
11. Rural Renewal
12. Ghostbusters
1976 Bonus Tracks
1. Soul Caravan
2. A Ballad For Joe (Louis)
3. Spiral
4. Hard Times
2003 Tracks
Joe Sample - Keyboards
Stephen Baxter - Trombone
Wilton Felder - Saxes
Ray Parker Jr. - Guitar
Kendrick Scott - Drums
Freddie Washington - Bass
Randy Crawford - Vocals (tracks 7-10)
1976 Bonus Tracks
Joe Sample - Keyboards
Wilton Felder - Saxes
Nesbert "Stix" Hooper - Drums
Larry Carlton - Guitar
Robert "Pops" Popwell - Bass
This DVD captures the Crusaders
at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003, in
the same year as their reunion album Rural
Renewal. The group was originally formed
in 1961, although by this time keyboardist
Joe Sample and saxist Wilton Felder were the
only members left from the original line-up.
I know they changed their original name from
the Jazz Crusaders in 1971, but that doesn't
signify that they stopped playing jazz. Their
style simply moved from bebop to jazz influenced
by rock and soul. Jazz-rock (or jazz-fusion,
as it is now usually called) is regarded in
some quarters as outdated or even not genuine
jazz but the Crusaders show there's still
life in the old dog. In any case, much present-day
jazz uses rock rhythms like eight-in-a-bar
with hardly anyone noticing, let alone complaining.
In fact on this DVD, the
Crusaders play some very dynamic jazz, with
Joe Sample in particular exhibiting his great
talent as a melodic improviser and composer.
The Crusaders' music is not only rhythmically
stimulating but also often catchy, as in the
tune Spiral which occurs twice here.
Several of the tunes come from the album Rural
Renewal, including Viva De Funk,
which certainly has a funkily storming trombone
solo, and Creepin' - which is not the
Stevie Wonder song but a Joe Sample composition
that opens with a keyboard introduction which
displays Joe's dexterity as well as his blues
awareness.
Put It Where You Want
It is the number which the Average White
Band liked so much that they gave it lyrics
and included it in their debut album. On the
DVD it features the agile guitarist Ray Parker
Jr. Vocalist Randy Crawford - long associated
with the Crusaders - comes on to perform The
Thrill is Gone (perhaps made most famous
by B. B. King) and two of her most memorable
songs, followed by a tender interpretation
of John Lennon's Imagine. Randy Crawford
still has that immediately recognisable voice
with its inimitable lilt. Her singing also
embraces gospel fervour and funky soul. The
concert ends with Ray Parker Jr. featured
in his own composition, Ghostbusters,
where he gets the audience to shout "Crusaders"
as a refrain instead of "Ghostbusters".
To fill out the DVD to a
generous couple of hours, there are four "bonus
tracks" recorded at Montreux years earlier
- in 1976, when "Stix" Hooper was still in
the band. Most attention focuses on guitarist
Larry Carlton, who had joined the Crusaders
in 1971 and brought with him some touches
of the guitar hero. The songs include a slow
tune, Ballad for Joe (Louis), which
proves that the band could play outside the
funky jazz-rock idiom. The introduction to
Hard Times is a tour de force
for Joe Sample's keyboard skills, before Wilton
Felder demonstrates a variety of electronic
effects obtainable from the tenor sax. The
only drawback with these bonus tracks is that
the picture is often too dark - or the cameras
too distant - to show much of the band. Otherwise
this is a good-value DVD which should reassure
viewers that the Crusaders still have jazz
in their soul.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Eagle Vision EREDV 71
