George Duke (1946-2013) wore many hats throughout his long and varied career: keyboardist, composer, producer, arranger, singer. His solo discography encompassed 40 albums while his collaborations included LPs with such jazz luminaries as Jean-Luc Ponty, Billy Cobham, Stanley Clarke, and Dexter Gordon. He produced records for A Taste of Honey, Sister Sledge, Barry Manilow, Melissa Manchester, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, and Smokey Robinson. Jazz was only part of the George Duke story, as his music joyfully fused the genre with the strains of soul, rhythm and blues, dance, and pop. The Cherry…
More Beautiful Each Day: Cherry Red’s Robinsongs Collects Three Albums from The Crusaders’ Joe Sample
Houston, Texas-born keyboardist Joe Sample (1939-2014) would have earned his place in the music history books alone for his work as a sideman with such artists as Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, and Minnie Riperton. But he also spent roughly thirty years as a founding member of soul-funk-jazz outfit The Jazz Crusaders (later, just The Crusaders) and enjoyed a solo career spanning two dozen albums in over 45 years. Now, Cherry Red’s Robinsongs imprint has brought together three of those solo records – 1978’s Rainbow Seeker, 1979’s Carmel, and 1981’s Voices…
