Grover Washington Baddest

Grover Washington, Jr.'s first album in three years (and debut for Columbia) did not yield any major hits but found him playing in prime form. Switching between his distinctive soprano, alto and tenor, Washington is joined by bassist-producer Marcus Miller, a large rhythm section and guest vocalists B.B. King ("Caught A Touch Of Your Love") and Jean Carne (on two songs). Highlights include "Strawberry Moon," "The Look Of Love," "Maddie's Blues" and "Summer Nights."

This is one of Grover Washington, Jr.'s occasional strays away from R&B-oriented jazz to play in a more straightahead setting. Switching between soprano, alto and tenor, Grover is accompanied by either Tommy Flanagan or Herbie Hancock on piano during five of the eight selections and he performs such numbers as Ron Carter's "Blues for D.P.," "Stolen Moments" and "Stella by Starlight" with swing and taste. Tenor-saxophonist Igor Butman also helps out on three songs. Worth acquiring.

Grover Washington blows over some great arrangements from William Eaton - full, but lean too - and with the same sort of slinky groove that always worked best for Grover back at Kudu Records. The sound is tight, but never too slick - that magically soulful approach that always made Grover a real standout from his contemporaries - one of the few cats who could smooth out jazz without ever losing its soul - thanks to lots of well-crafted lead lines on soprano sax!

Grover Washington blows over some great arrangements from William Eaton - full, but lean too - and with the same sort of slinky groove that always worked best for Grover back at Kudu Records. The sound is tight, but never too slick - that magically soulful approach that always made Grover a real standout from his contemporaries - one of the few cats who could smooth out jazz without ever losing its soul - thanks to lots of well-crafted lead lines on soprano sax!

While there can be no doubt that the late great Grover Washington, Jr. released his most commercially successful recordings for Columbia and Elektra, there is also no doubt that, critically and creatively, Washington's most visionary material, the stuff that virtually created the template for the smooth jazz generations that came after, were on the Kudu imprint and produced by Creed Taylor. Washington was a monster saxophonist on tenor as well as soprano, and a true stylist. Before coming to Motown and Kudu he had apprenticed with a number of soul-jazz masters, including Charles Earland and Johnny "Hammond" Smith. The material here focuses on the seminal eight years Washington recorded for Motown and Kudu, beginning with his early renditions of standards like "I Loves You, Porgy," from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess…