{"title":"Grover Washington Jr.","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn on 12 December 1943 in Buffalo, New York, Grover Washington Jr. was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist who, along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, is considered a founder of the smooth jazz genre. His mother sang in church choirs whilst his father played saxophone and collected jazz records. Washington received his first saxophone at age eight from his father and was already playing in clubs as a teenager. He left Buffalo to play with the Four Clefs, was drafted into the US Army in 1965 where he played with the 19th Army Band at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and met drummer Billy Cobham who introduced him to New York musicians. After leaving the army, he moved to Philadelphia in 1967.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis breakthrough came in 1971 when alto saxophonist Hank Crawford was unable to make a recording date with Creed Taylor's Kudu Records and Washington was chosen as replacement, leading to his debut album \u003cem\u003eInner City Blues\u003c\/em\u003e. His fourth album \u003cem\u003eMister Magic\u003c\/em\u003e (1974) proved a major commercial success, reaching number one on Billboard's R\u0026amp;B chart and number 10 on the pop chart. His 1975 follow-up \u003cem\u003eFeels So Good\u003c\/em\u003e also reached number one R\u0026amp;B. His signature album \u003cem\u003eWinelight\u003c\/em\u003e (1980) featured his collaboration with Bill Withers on \"Just the Two of Us\", which peaked at number two in 1981 and won two Grammy Awards. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Washington created memorable hits including \"Mister Magic\", \"Reed Seed\", \"Winelight\", and \"The Best is Yet to Come\", collaborating frequently with artists including Patti LaBelle and Phyllis Hyman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWashington developed personal voices on soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone, playing with spontaneity and risk-taking whilst influencing commercial giants like Kenny G. On 17 December 1999, he collapsed whilst taping CBS' Saturday Early Show and died of a heart attack aged 56. A Philadelphia middle school and murals in both Philadelphia and Buffalo honour his legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"grover-washington-jr-come-morning-1981-japanese-elektra-lp","title":"Grover Washington Jr. - Come Morning (1981 Japanese Elektra LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e: NM\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e:EX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003c\/strong\u003eNone\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur grading system explained \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003cbr\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrover Washington Jr. - \u003cem\u003eCome Morning\u003c\/em\u003e Vinyl LP - 1981 Japanese Elektra Stereo Pressing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eWashington's follow-up to Winelight\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003ewith the same core band, self-produced at Rosebud Recording in 1981\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMarcus Miller on bass, Steve Gadd on drums\u003c\/strong\u003e, Richard Tee on Rhodes, Eric Gale on guitar and Ralph MacDonald on percussion\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e1981 Japanese Elektra pressing\u003c\/strong\u003e manufactured by Warner-Pioneer Corporation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [\u0026amp;_\u0026gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded between June and September 1981, \u003cem\u003eCome Morning\u003c\/em\u003e was Washington's self-produced follow-up to \u003cem\u003eWinelight\u003c\/em\u003e, with the same band largely intact. Marcus Miller plays bass, Steve Gadd drums, Richard Tee Rhodes piano, Eric Gale guitar, and Ralph MacDonald congas and percussion, with Paul Griffin on synthesiser and a backing vocal section appearing on several tracks. Washington produced and mixed the record himself, and plays soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone across the eight tracks. The title track and \"East River Drive\" demonstrate his melodic directness, while \"Little Black Samba\" and \"Jamming\" push toward a groovier, more rhythmically driven feel. Released in Japan in 1981 on Elektra (P-11082E) and manufactured by Warner-Pioneer Corporation, the WEA joint venture responsible for Elektra releases in Japan throughout this period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe session's rhythm section is its foundation. Gadd's drumming is precise and responsive without overplaying, Tee's Rhodes comping creates harmonic warmth beneath Washington's lines, and Miller's bass, still early in his career before his pivotal work with Miles Davis later in the decade, provides melodic bottom throughout. Gale's guitar fills the spaces between without cluttering arrangements Washington kept deliberately open. Background vocalists including Ullanda McCullough and Frank Floyd add texture on \"Be Mine (Tonight)\", \"Jamming\" and \"Little Black Samba\". Warner-Pioneer pressings from the early 1980s are consistently valued by collectors for their low noise floors and quality control, making this a clean way to own a record that belongs in any serious contemporary jazz collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Elektra","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43239157956667,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_6223.jpg?v=1772006582"},{"product_id":"grover-washington-jr-feels-so-good-1979-japanese-kudu-cti-vinyl-lp","title":"Grover Washington Jr. - Feels So Good (1979 Japanese Kudu CTI Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e: NM\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003cspan\u003e NM\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eNone\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur grading system explained \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003cbr\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrover Washington Jr. - \u003cem\u003eFeels So Good\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 1979 Japanese Kudu Reissue (LAX 3213, CTI Kudu Original 1500 Series, King Record Co. Ltd.)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCreed Taylor had put Grover Washington Jr. on a run of albums that few producers managed with any artist: \u003cem\u003eInner City Blues\u003c\/em\u003e (1971), \u003cem\u003eAll the King's Horses\u003c\/em\u003e (1972), \u003cem\u003eSoul Box\u003c\/em\u003e (1973), \u003cem\u003eMister Magic\u003c\/em\u003e (1975) and then this, recorded before \u003cem\u003eMister Magic\u003c\/em\u003e had finished its run on the charts. Bob James arranged all five tracks and plays piano, electric piano and synthesizer throughout. Rudy Van Gelder engineered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rhythm section shifts across the two sides. Steve Gadd plays the first two tracks, an unusually restrained performance from a drummer typically associated with more assertive playing. Jimmy Madison takes \"Knucklehead,\" an eight-minute funk workout with space for him to stretch. Side B gives way to Kenneth \"Spider Webb\" Rice on drums and Louis Johnson on bass, Johnson's sound is immediately recognisable, the low end looser and more percussive than Gary King's work on Side A.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The Sea Lion\" is Bob James's composition, strings and woodwinds arranged in the CTI style that Taylor had refined across dozens of albums. \"Moonstreams\" features Washington on soprano saxophone with Eric Gale's guitar and Sid Weinberg's English horn playing over the James arrangement. \"It Feels So Good\" at eight minutes, with Washington on tenor, was written by Ralph MacDonald and William Salter, who had also written \"Mister Magic.\" Jon Faddis, Randy Brecker, John Frosk and Bob Millikan fill out the brass section throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the 1979 Japanese Kudu CTI 1500 Series reissue (LAX 3213), distributed by King Record Co. Ltd.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kudu","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43499564073019,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_6883.jpg?v=1778366073"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/grover-washington-jr.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}