> what is grover washington best period. THe Motown years or the
> elektra years? Funkiness isnthe key here. WHat song did the phacyde
> sample for " get thegirl grab the moneY..." from the keenen wayans
> soundtrack?
>
Grover Washington Jr was one of the COOLEST cats in 70's music, coming
from Philly, he was up there with Dr. J himself for awhile...
His breakthrough track was Mr. Magic (and the lp is strong too) on Mtown
around 1975. His tracks were clean, but thick with blues and funk tones,
in part due to his killer musicians, and his own rather unique way of
playing fonky saxophone over almost every style...
Also around 75 was "Feel So Good", an lp with nothing to do with Chuck
Mangione's pop hit, "Feel So Good" had MONSTER tracks on it, that lots of
rappers sampled,and I remember Louis Johnson thumping bass on "Hydra"
My favorite Grover lp's are "Live at the Bijou", a brilliant live lp from
78 or so, that featured many new jams with his KILLER band Locksmith...the
radio played a track called "Sausalito" but there were lots of thick,
stanky dance/funk/jazz on it. My other favorite lp is "Reed Seed" which
came out around the same time...it has a radio hit "Do Dat", and features
locksmith working Grover righteously...I gave both of these lp's 4 stars
**** in my book and would recommend them to anyone, especially Harry
Weinger in the vaults!
To me, Grover has been totally mishandled by the compliations, and his
entire Motown/Kudu stuff needs to be put out...
His Electra stuff goes down the overproduced/uninspired road rather
quickly as far as I'm concerned. "Winelight" has some strong tracks, but
one look at the cover and it's clear he's into 'smooth jazz' marketing by
1981...
My spin on Grover years:
70-74 smooth but rather tame acid-jazz instrumentals
75-79 heavier, stankier funk-jazz period..
80-90's 'clean' pop jazz, be warned.
**but don't sleep on a Live performance of Grover!!! He's still tha
sheeeit!!
Took my wife to a Grover concert a few years back, and she said "I wish he
would do to me what he's doing to that saxophone!"
nuff said.