upcoming jazz crusaders set?

[ghost of miles]

Cliff, if you'd like to hear a bit more, I devoted the entire second hour of a recent Afterglow program to it... go to the archives and select Part 2 for the August 4, 2006 show.

Edited August 22, 2006 by ghost of miles

[sidewinder]

Got all 6 disks of this one currently loaded into the I-Pod. Hugely enjoyable - a good prompt for me to power the thing up right now..

'Mr Sandman' playing right now.

Edited August 22, 2006 by sidewinder

[mikelz777]

I got into the Crusaders in a big way with my first exposure to the group when a friend played "Southern Comfort" for me. I was quickly hooked and started buying up more of their 70's recordings before their sound changed and they started selling out. (I can't believe that their best selling/best known recording is probably "Street Life'. That recording makes my skin crawl.) I liked them so much that I wanted more so I started picking up their Jazz Crusaders stuff but was very disappointed that a lot of it was very hard to come by. Enter Mosaic. I was so pumped by this set that I bought it almost immediately upon discovering it. What a fantastic way to pick up a lot of music that was otherwise unavailable! Now with the single exception of "Old Socks, New Shoes" (I'm still looking for a reasonably priced one) I have everything studio and live that the [Jazz] Crusaders put out up until the point where Wayne Henderson left the group. After that, they ceased to be the Crusaders in my opinion and I stopped caring. Henderson's departure signaled a sharp decline and an unwelcome change in sound.

I'd highly recommend the Jazz Crusader's Mosaic. These guys were all strong players, the real deal, and composed a lot of their own stuff with each member contributing. I'd agree that they weren't trailblazers but they were as solid as bedrock. I think they had a truely unique sound as well, not at all contrived. I can't think of anyone before or after who had their sound. Since they grew up together and played together for so long there is a great cohesiveness which translates to the music and their playing. I think anyone who is even remotely interested in this type of jazz would really enjoy this box set.

[John Tapscott]

Cliff, if you'd like to hear a bit more, I devoted the entire second hour of a recent Afterglow program to it... go to the archives and select Part 2 for the August 4, 2006 show.

Thanks for posting this. I found it and just finished listening to the hour long segment. Very good and enjoyable music. All new to me.

[mikeweil]

From the Mosaic site:

This set focuses on the studio recordings of the Jazz Crusaders as a unit with a variety of bassists and the occasional addition of a guitarist. The albums that they recorded with a big band (Talk That Talk), latin percussion, organ and flute (Chile Con Soul) and in collaboration with Les McCann (Jazz Waltz) are of a very different nature and not included here. Nor is the R & B single (Bunny Ride b/w Sweetie Lester) which they recorded for the label in 1962 as The Night Hawks, which sounds nothing like the Jazz Crusaders.

So what has been out on single CDs that's not in the box? So far I have these:

This one, the CD reissue of Lighthouse 66, already seems hard to come by:

I have the big band LP (Talk That Talk) somewhere, didn't listen to it in along time.

Have the album with Les McCann and the Lighthouse 69 ever been on CD?

And has anybody here heard that Nighthawks single?

Edited November 1, 2009 by mikeweil

[king ubu]

I'm interested in the answer(s) as well! Got the five you pictured above (found the last one in a local EMI sale I think, but it took a while to turn up). The Chile I bought cheaply at Mediamarkt in Budapest, of all places... It's better than I'd expected (I was expecting some "stoopid music" but it's way more than that!)

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

The five Mike pictured are all that have come out. Which leaves what Mike listed as still unavailable.

MG

[king ubu]

Thanks MG - too bad!

Btw, this is off topic here, but at least "Pass the Plate" from the later period when they called themselves The Crusaders, is very much worth hearing, too! I also have the first and second crusade albums, as well as the Socks/Shoes ones - they have all been reissued in Universal's "Originals" series in the past years. I don't have "Images", just in case. I guess by that point, I'm no longer interested that much...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thanks MG - too bad!

Btw, this is off topic here, but at least "Pass the Plate" from the later period when they called themselves The Crusaders, is very much worth hearing, too! I also have the first and second crusade albums, as well as the Socks/Shoes ones - they have all been reissued in Universal's "Originals" series in the past years. I don't have "Images", just in case. I guess by that point, I'm no longer interested that much...

"Images" is really extremely boring.

"Scratch" is another live album, from their Blue Thumb days, and is pretty nearly as good as the PJ live sets. I'm sure that's made it to CD.

MG

[JSngry]

Unsung Heroes might also be of interest.

[mikelz777]

From the Mosaic site:

This set focuses on the studio recordings of the Jazz Crusaders as a unit with a variety of bassists and the occasional addition of a guitarist. The albums that they recorded with a big band (Talk That Talk), latin percussion, organ and flute (Chile Con Soul) and in collaboration with Les McCann (Jazz Waltz) are of a very different nature and not included here. Nor is the R & B single (Bunny Ride b/w Sweetie Lester) which they recorded for the label in 1962 as The Night Hawks, which sounds nothing like the Jazz Crusaders.

So what has been out on single CDs That's not in the box? So far I have these:

There is one more Jazz Crusaders CD that isn't in the set (as it's not on Pacific Jazz). It came out on MoJazz in 1970 before they dropped the "Jazz" from their name and started releasing their stuff under "The Crusaders" name in 1971.

Old Socks, New Shoes,,,New Socks, Old Shoes

Edited November 1, 2009 by mikelz777

[JSngry]

There is one more Jazz Crusaders CD that isn't in the set and that wasn't shown among the discs in your post. It came out on MoJazz in 1970 before they dropped the "Jazz" from their name and started releasing their stuff under "The Crusaders" name in 1971.

Old Socks, New Shoes,,,New Socks, Old Shoes

Not to nitpick, but that LP was actually released on Hugh Masekela's Chisa label, which at the time was distributed by Motown. MoJazz was the label for the CD release.

[mikelz777]

Well it's probably fortunate that I'm not an archivist. I was only reading the cover.

[king ubu]

And it's part of Universal's "Originals" series by now - see my post above... I wasn't aware that the "Jazz" part of their name was still intact by that time!

[JSngry]

As Mike notes, that was the last one. Pass The Plate (also on Chisa) was their first as "The Crusaders".

[JSngry]

BTW, it's not so much that I'm an archivist as it is that I'm of a certain age as to have bought both of those albums "in their time". Wasn't really thrilled with eitehr, then or now, although between the two of them there's tunes that also appeared on the Hutcherson/Land San Francisco album, so there's the comparison thing to be done if one so wishes.

[sidewinder]

From the Mosaic site:

This set focuses on the studio recordings of the Jazz Crusaders as a unit with a variety of bassists and the occasional addition of a guitarist. The albums that they recorded with a big band (Talk That Talk), latin percussion, organ and flute (Chile Con Soul) and in collaboration with Les McCann (Jazz Waltz) are of a very different nature and not included here. Nor is the R & B single (Bunny Ride b/w Sweetie Lester) which they recorded for the label in 1962 as The Night Hawks, which sounds nothing like the Jazz Crusaders.

So what has been out on single CDs that's not in the box? So far I have these:

This one, the CD reissue of Lighthouse 66, already seems hard to come by:

I have the big band LP (Talk That Talk) somewhere, didn't listen to it in along time.

Have the album with Les McCann and the Lighthouse 69 ever been on CD?

And has anybody here heard that Nighthawks single?

Just ordered that Lighthouse '68 album from Amazon - and the other Lighthouse one too.

I've got the 'Lighthouse '69' on Japanese Pacific Jazz vinyl.

By my reckoning, its only the 'Chile Con Soul' that I am missing now. And judging from king ubu's comments, I need to get hold of it !

Edited November 1, 2009 by sidewinder

[mikeweil]

Chile Con Soul is a great little gem of a Latin jazz album! Sample in particular displays how well he understood the general concept of Cuban piano. Stix Hooper blends well with the two Cuban percussionist, which are among the best ever (Carlos Vidal and Carmelo Garcia).

The tunes the Crusaders members wrote point at the mixture of jazz, R & B , and Cuban dance music that Mongo Santamaria developped so successfully - no small wonder, as Laws was a member of Mongo's band at the time.

Edited November 1, 2009 by mikeweil

[sidewinder]

Chile Con Soul is a great little gem of a Latin jazz album! Sample in particular displays how well he understood the general concept of Cuban piano. The tunes the Crusaders members wrote point at the mixture of jazz, R & B , and Cuban dance music that Mongo Santamaria developped so successfully - no small wonder, as Laws was a member of Mongo's band at the time.

Thanks ! I've got one track from it on a 90s Jazz Crusaders 'Best Of' compilation and quite like it. Anything by these guys before they got their disco hats on is good by me. Sounds like a definite 'buy'.

[king ubu]

Mike is much better at describing the merits of "Chile Con Soul", of course! But I'm a wee bit proud that I felt that it was more than just a gimmick easy listening thing... because easy it is... smooth wasn't a four-letter word in... Sangrey's time? Or was that even before?

The funny thing is, reading about their disco hats - that's the first I heard of them, a sleazy bit of jazz funk, no idea what the disc was called, but a girl at my highschool (hellyeah, I had a crush on her!) lent me a pile of funk and rare groove discs once (including some really cool stuff, such as Carol Kaye) and among them was one by The Crusaders.

So my first reaction upon hearing about a Mosaic set was astonishment... but then curiosity got the better of me and I checked out the live albums a year or so ago (I remained sceptical for quite a while) and I was very pleasantly surprised to hear how good this stuff is!

Here's another related disc that is pretty nice:

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Mike is much better at describing the merits of "Chile Con Soul", of course! But I'm a wee bit proud that I felt that it was more than just a gimmick easy listening thing... because easy it is... smooth wasn't a four-letter word in... Sangrey's time? Or was that even before?

The funny thing is, reading about their disco hats - that's the first I heard of them, a sleazy bit of jazz funk, no idea what the disc was called, but a girl at my highschool (hellyeah, I had a crush on her!) lent me a pile of funk and rare groove discs once (including some really cool stuff, such as Carol Kaye) and among them was one by The Crusaders.

So my first reaction upon hearing about a Mosaic set was astonishment... but then curiosity got the better of me and I checked out the live albums a year or so ago (I remained sceptical for quite a while) and I was very pleasantly surprised to hear how good this stuff is!

Here's another related disc that is pretty nice:

Very good indeed! Al Abreu is great on that one.

There was another that I didn't get. Have you got it?

MG

[king ubu]

no, that's the only Freedom Sounds/Henderson disc I have... fished it out of some sales bin and haven't regretted that...

Wasn't aware of the other one, i guess it's this one:

Soul Sound System?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

no, that's the only Freedom Sounds/Henderson disc I have... fished it out of some sales bin and haven't regretted that...

Wasn't aware of the other one, i guess it's this one:

Soul Sound System?

That's it, now I see the sleeve.

MG

[mikeweil]

Got my Mosaic box today, I am definitely glad I got a copy - these guys hit such a nice groove ....

Is there a write-up in the web about Wayne Henderson's departure and the lawsuits? I never quite understood what it wa all about.

And still no CD of Lighthouse '69 or the McCann collaboration, right?

[mikelz777]

The Les McCann collaboration is currently available on CD.