Jazz-funk: “So Far Away”

The Crusaders: Wilton Felder (tenor sax), Wayne Henderson (trombone), Larry Carlton, Arthur Adams and David T. Walker (electric guitar), Joe Sample (keyboards), Chuck Rainey (electric bass) and Stix Hooper (drums, percussion). From the album Crusaders 1 (1972).

In 1972 The Crusaders released Crusaders 1, in which there is an excellent rapport between Wilton Felder’s tenor sax and Wayne Henderson’s trombone, and we have a rhythm section with guitarists Larry Carlton, Arthur Adams and David T. Walker interacting wildly, Joe Sample playing funk with his Fender Rhoders against Chuck Rainey’s bass lines and Stix Hooper keeping up the pace briskly with the drums. This caught the attention of the growing jazz-rock scene. In 1973 they released Unsung Heroes and The 2nd Crusade, in which Sample starts using synthesizers and musicians sing soul.

In 1974 Scratch arrived, recorded live with excellent solos over magnificent rhythms and Carlton’s only guitar; and Southern Comfort, a new example of the band’s wit and good taste. In 1975 they edited Chain Reaction, one of their best albums with memorable tunes and an unbeatable interpretation. Carlton provides his best licks and funky rhythms while Henderson demonstrates that there is also a place for trombone in jazz fusion. Felder takes care of the saxophone and electric bass, Sample offers a solid harmonic base and fantastic solos with his Fender Rhodes and Hooper keeps the rhythm firmly. This is the work of a cohesive band in which musicians leave plenty of room to express themselves and which attracted young rockers to jazz.

In 1976 Those Southern Knights appeared and Henderson left to dedicate himself to record production, leaving a void affecting the sound of the group. In 1977 The Crusaders issued Free as the Wind again with three guitars, but this time featuring melodic solos and wind and string sections with Sample arrangements. In Images (1978) the band used the same ideas and lost popularity, but in 1979 they signed with the MCA label and published Street Life with jazz and rhythm and blues singer Randy Crawford as guest artist. The album ranked in the top 20 of three Billboard charts and the title song made it number 17 in the soul lists. This would be the culmination of the group’s career, which thereafter began to lose quality.