The Crusaders

Biography

The Crusaders (formerly known as The Jazz Crusaders) were an American jazz/jazz fusion group performing from the 1960s to 2010. Known firstly from their 1960 inception as the Jazz Crusaders they eventually renamed themselves in 1971 to simply the Crusaders. A wide range of genres such as Jazz, R&B, Jazz-rock, the Blues and Jazz-funk are cohesively featured on the group's albums. The Crusaders have also had a total of nine Grammy nominations.

Career

High school friends Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor saxophone) and Nesbert "Stix" Hooper (drums) formed their first band together, the Swingsters, at Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas in 1954. While studying at Texas Southern University, they played a mixture of jazz and R&B, and were joined by Wayne Henderson (trombone), Hubert Laws (flute), and Henry Wilson (bass). The group soon turned more to hard bop, and renamed themselves the Modern Jazz Sextet, but also recorded in a more R&B vein as the Nighthawks (or Nite Hawks).
In 1960, Sample, Felder, Hooper and Henderson moved to Los Angeles and formed the Jazz Crusaders as a quintet with a succession of different bass players. Influenced by musicians such as Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey and John Coltrane, the band signed to the Pacific Jazz label in 1961, and released 16 albums on the label over the subsequent eight years. With a front-line horn section of Felder and Henderson, the group's sound was rooted in hard bop, but with a slant towards R&B and soul music.
Their first two albums, with Jimmy Bond on bass, were Freedom Sound×Freedom Sound1961 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracksA1The Geek5:42A2M.J.S. Funk6:00A3That's It4:46B1Freedom Sound8:25B2Theme From "Exodus"3:53B3Coon4:19 (1961), and Lookin' Ahead (1962), followed by the live album At the Lighthouse (1962) and Tough Talk×Tough Talk1963 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Deacon Brown3:40A2Turkish Black5:34A3Brahms' Lullaby4:42A4Boopie4:17B1Tough Talk2:20B2No Name Samba2:25B3Lazy Canary4:15B4Lonely Horn3:53B5Brother Bernard4:23, the first of several albums with bassist Bobby Haynes. In all, the group recorded five live albums in the 1960s, four of which were recorded at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach. They also had their first chart entry, their treatment of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" reaching No. 95 on the Hot 100 in 1966. The group's 1969 album, Powerhouse×Powerhouse1968 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Promises, Promises6:13A2Love and Peace3:17A3Hey Jude3:20A4Sting Ray3:24A5Fancy Dance4:25B1Love Is Blue (L'amour est bleu)4:35B2Cookie Man5:35B3Upstairs3:12B4Fire Water6:23, was their first to reach the Billboard 200 album chart, reaching No. 184, and was also their last studio album for Pacific Jazz.
The group then signed with the Chisa label, co-owned by trumpeter Hugh Masekela and producer Stewart Levine. Their 1970 album Old Socks, New Shoes reached No. 90 on the album chart, and was their last as the Jazz Crusaders. The decision was taken to call the group simply the Crusaders, so as not to limit their scope and potential audience. After a second album with Chisa, (Pass the Plate×Pass the PlateMay 1971 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracksA1Pass the Plate: Tap n' Shuffle / Sing for Your Keep / Beggin' / Haggin' Stomp! / Pennies, Nickels and Dimes15:43A2Young Rabbits '71-'724:54B1Listen and You'll See5:30B2Greasy Spoon4:06B3Treat Me Like Ya Treat Yaself2:35B4Goin' Down South5:23B5Love Can't Grow Where the Rain Won't Fall4:04, 1971), and one album for the MoWest label (Hollywood×Hollywood1972 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Spanish Harlem7:06A2Try a Little Harder5:53A3Hollywood3:43A4Do Yourself a Favor4:32B1Cold Duck Eddie7:37B2Way Back Home4:04B3Papa Hooper's Barrelhouse Groove2:40B4Alekesam5:21, 1972) they signed with Blue Thumb Records, where they remained until the late 1970s. The Crusaders released the album Crusaders 1×Crusaders 1March 1972 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks · 2 discsDisc 1A1That's How I Feel8:24A2So Far Away12:06B1Put It Where You Want It5:31B2Mystique Blues4:46B3Full Moon7:29Disc 2C1Sweet Revival4:47C2Mud Hole6:35C3It's Just Gotta Be That Way3:42C4Georgia Cottonfield7:21D1A Shade of Blues5:20D2Three Children5:29D3Mosadi (Woman)7:17 in 1972, including "Put It Where You Want It×Put It Where You Want It1972 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAPut It Where You Want It2:50BMosadi (Woman)3:30", covered by the Average White Band in 1973. Their recordings increasingly adopted a jazz-funk style. They incorporated electric guitar and bass into their shows and recordings, as well as using Sample's electric piano and clavinet. Guitarist Larry Carlton joined and featured on their albums in the early part of the decade. Bass duties were often handled by Felder, with Max Bennett contributing in the early/mid-70's and Robert "Pops" Popwell joining later in the decade.
According to jazz critic Scott Yanow at AllMusic, however, "after a few excellent albums during the early part of the decade... the group began to decline in quality." Sample later commented that the group was under commercial pressure from record companies to record jazzed-up versions of contemporary popular songs. Henderson left to become a record producer in 1975, and the other musicians regularly and increasingly worked as session musicians with artists such as the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, and Randy Newman. With a growing crossover appeal, the group's most commercially successful recordings included the single "Put It Where You Want It" (No. 52 pop, 1972), and the albums The 2nd Crusade×The 2nd CrusadeMarch 1973 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks · 2 discsDisc 1A1Don't Let It Get You Down3:00A2Take It or Leave It3:40A3Gotta Get It On2:50A4Where There's a Will There's a Way5:30A5Look Beyond the Hill3:20B1Journey From Within4:51B2Ain't Gon' Change a Thang4:30B3A Message From the Inner City8:50Disc 2C1A Search for Soul9:40C2No Place to Hide8:44D1Tomorrow Where Are You?5:10D2Tough Talk6:00D3Do You Remember When?6:00 (No. 45 album, 1973), Southern Comfort×Southern ComfortOctober 1974 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks · 2 discsDisc 1A1Stomp and Buck Dance5:50A2Greasy Spoon3:11A3Get on the Soul Ship (It’s Sailing)3:24A4Super-Stuff2:47B1Double Bubble2:46B2The Well’s Gone Dry4:48B3Southern Comfort3:08B4Time Bomb6:46Disc 2C1When There’s Love Around5:29C2Lilies of the Nile9:39D1Whispering Pines8:57D2A Ballad for Joe (Louis)7:28 (No. 31 album, 1974) including "Stomp and Buck Dance×Stomp and Buck Dance1974 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAStomp and Buck Dance3:32BA Ballad for Joe (Louis)", Chain Reaction×Chain Reaction1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Creole3:29A2Chain Reaction5:41A3I Felt the Love5:11A4Mellow Out2:48A5Rainbow Visions6:14B1Hallucinate5:12B2Give It Up2:59B3Hot's It3:50B4Sugar Cane2:31B5Soul Caravan5:29 (No. 26 album, 1975), Those Southern Knights×Those Southern Knights1976 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracksA1Spiral6:15A2Keep That Same Old Feeling5:40A3My Mama Told Me So4:54A4Til' the Sun Shines2:51B1And Then There Was the Blues9:45B2Serenity7:16B3Feeling Funky3:02 (No. 38 album, 1976), and Images×Images21 June 1978 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracksA1Fairy Tales4:44A2Marcella’s Dream6:51A3Bayou Bottoms4:17A4Merry-Go-Round6:13B1Cosmic Reign7:16B2Covert Action5:19B3Snowflake4:55 (No. 34 album, 1978).
The peak of the group's commercial success came with 1979's Street Life, with Randy Crawford as featured singer. The album peaked at No. 18 on the pop album charts and the title track made the top 10 on the R&B chart, No. 36 on Billboard′s Hot 100 chart, and No. 5 in the UK. Later albums by the group featured singers Bill Withers and Joe Cocker. The live 1982 album Royal Jam×Royal Jam1982 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Overture (I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today)5:542One Day I'll Fly Away6:333Fly With Wings of Love9:064Burnin' Up the Carnival5:445Last Call8:016The Thrill Is Gone5:497Better Not Look Down6:018Hold On4:259Street Life7:5610I Just Can't Leave Your Love Alone4:0311Never Make a Move Too Soon4:27 featured guitarist B. B. King, bassist James Jamerson, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hooper left in 1983, and though Felder and Sample kept the group operating through the 1980s, the group's commercial success diminished.
Felder and Henderson reunited in the mid-1990s as the Crusaders. Henderson later led a band called the Jazz Crusaders, in which Felder and Carlton also played, and Felder and Sample reunited as the Crusaders in 2003.
Wayne Henderson died in Culver City, California on April 5, 2014; Joe Sample died in Houston, Texas on September 12, 2014; and Wilton Felder died in Whittier, California on September 27, 2015.

Grammy awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Crusaders have received a total of nine nominations.

As the Jazz Crusaders

Freedom Sound (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
Lookin' Ahead (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
The Jazz Crusaders at the Lighthouse (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
Tough Talk (Pacific Jazz, 1963)
Heat Wave (Pacific Jazz, 1963)
Jazz Waltz with Les McCann (Pacific Jazz, 1963)
Stretchin' Out (Pacific Jazz, 1964)
The Thing (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
Chile Con Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
Live at the Lighthouse '66 (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
Talk That Talk (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
The Festival Album (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
Uh Huh (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
Lighthouse '68 (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
Powerhouse (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
Lighthouse '69 (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
Give Peace a Chance (Liberty, 1970)
Old Socks New Shoes – New Socks Old Shoes (Chisa, 1970)
Source:

As the Crusaders

Pass the Plate (Chisa, 1971) – No. 168 US
Hollywood (MoWest, 1972)
Crusaders 1 (Blue Thumb, 1972) – No. 96 US
The 2nd Crusade (Blue Thumb, 1973)
Unsung Heroes (Blue Thumb, 1973)
Scratch (Blue Thumb, 1974)
Southern Comfort (Blue Thumb, 1974)
Chain Reaction (Blue Thumb, 1975)
Those Southern Knights (Blue Thumb, 1976)
Best of The Crusaders (Blue Thumb, 1976)
Free as the Wind (Blue Thumb, 1977)
Images (Blue Thumb, 1978)
Street Life (MCA, 1979)
Rhapsody and Blues (MCA, 1980)
Ongaku Kai – Live in Japan (Crusaders, 1981; GRP, 1993)
Standing Tall (MCA, 1981)
Royal Jam (MCA, 1982) – with B.B. King and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Ghetto Blaster (MCA, 1984)
The Good and Bad Times (MCA, 1986)
Life in the Modern World (MCA, 1988)
Healing the Wounds (GRP, 1991)
Rural Renewal (Verve, 2003)
Live in Japan 2003 (P.R.A., 2004)

As the Jazz Crusaders

n.b. (Wayne Henderson and Wilton Felder)

Happy Again (Sin-Drome, 1994)
Louisiana Hot Sauce (Sin-Drome, 1996)
Break'n Da Rulz! (Indigo Blue, 1998)
Power of Our Music – The Endangered Species (Indigo Blue, 2000)
Soul Axess (Indigo Blue, 2003)
Alive in South Africa (True Life, 2006)