The Crusaders, Live At Montreux 2003 (2008)
Studio: Eagle Rock Entertainment EE 39174-9
Video: 16:9 widescreen color
Audio: DTS 5.1, DD 5.1, LPCM Stereo
Extras: None
Subtitles: None
Length: 93 minutes
Rating: ****
The Crusaders were formed in 1961 as the Jazz Crusaders, a moniker they adopted out of high school to let the world know they were on a crusade for jazz music. The brainchild of keyboardist Joe Sample and bassist/sax player Wilton Felder, the group soon grew to include longtime members Wayne Henderson and Nesbert “Stix” Hooper. Sample heard Ray Charles pounding on the keys of his electric piano in the song “What’d I Say,” and knew that a career in the music industry was his ticket, and in between on-and-off again stints with the Crusaders over the last four decades, he’s also become one of the top session men in the music industry as well. The Crusaders peaked commercially in the late seventies with the album Street Life, which was a great commercial success both domestically and internationally, and featured vocalist Randy Crawford on the popular title tune. She rejoins the group for this 2003 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, which saw a revamped version of the Crusaders with Joe Sample and Wilton Felder, along with Ray Parker, Jr. (of Ghostbusters fame) on guitar.
While originally a hard bop group, The Crusaders were noted in the seventies as one of the first and best of the jazz fusion and later smooth jazz groups, and the opening track on this disc, “Spiral,” shows off some of Joe Sample’s trademark work on the electric piano that gave the group such a distinctive (and often imitated) sound. The performance continues as an all-instrumental affair, with such hits as “Carnival Of The Night” and “Put It Where You Want It” (which became a huge hit in the seventies for the Average White Band), until vocalist Randy Crawford joins the band for a thrilling version of the B.B. King classic “The Thrill Is Gone.” She then plows through equally bracing renditions of “Soul Shadows” which originally featured the late Bill Withers on vocals, and her signature tune with the band “Street Life,” which gets a wildly enthusiastic reception from the Montreux audience. The band finishes the set with “Rural Renewal,” the title track from their comeback album that preceded this appearance at Montreux. Ray Parker takes the lead for the finale, his signature tune “Ghostbusters,” which, despite its campiness, is a huge hit with the audience, and he proves throughout the evening with his contributions on guitar that he’s not just a one-hit wonder.
Technically, this disc is superb – I’m surprised that Eagle Rock didn’t release it as one of their great Montreux Blu-ray series – it’s really that good! The image quality is nothing less than excellent, clear and crisp with superb contrast and color representation. And the sound quality is also first rate; I A-B’d the DTS, DD and PCM tracks, and they all sounded fantastic. For fans of the Crusaders, or for fans of just great jazz music, period, this disc comes very highly recommended!
TrackList: Spiral; Viva De Funk; Creepin’; Way Back Home; Carnival Of The Night; Put It Where You Want It; The Thrill Is Gone; Soul Shadows; Street Life; Imagine; Rural Renewal; Ghostbusters.
— Tom Gibbs
