Joe Sample

One of the many jazzmen who started out playing hard bop but went electric during the fusion era, Joe Sample was, in the late '50s, a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders along with trombonist Wayne Henderson, tenor saxman Wilton Felder, and drummer Stix Hooper. The Crusaders' debt to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers wasn't hard to miss - except that the L.A.-based unit had no trumpeter, and became known for its unique tenor/trombone front line. Sample, a hard-swinging player who could handle chordal and modal/scalar improvisation equally well, stuck to the acoustic piano during The Crusaders' early years - but would place greater emphasis on electric keyboards when the band turned to jazz-funk in the early '70s and dropped "Jazz" from its name.

The Pecan Tree is a collection of 11 compositions from master pianist/composer Joe Sample that were inspired by his Southeast Texas roots and influences. As a founding member of the pioneering quartet the Jazz Crusaders and as a solo artist, the pianist has created an impressive musical style based upon his early appreciation for jazz, gospel, soul, bebop, blues, Latin, and classical music. The Pecan Tree features many of those musical genres performed with such special guests as Lenny Castro and Paulinho da Costa on percussion, renowned R&B vocalist Howard Hewett, and newcomer Lizz Wright. Sample's Quintet kicks off the set with the title track, a Latin-tinged mid-tempo instrumental that features Sample's beautiful melodicism in harmony with the percussive mastery of Lenny Castro. The ensemble brings their creativity ingenuity to "Hot and Humid," a sweltering musical story of the region's weather condition.

Pianist Joe Sample is a pioneer at creating melodic and accessible pop-jazz. His recordings of the 1970s and '80s were consistently popular, especially this best-seller. Sample is joined on most selections by fellow Crusader Stix Hooper on drums, electric bassist Abraham Laboriel, percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, and, often, guitarist Dean Parks…

On his first solo-piano CD, dedicated to the pioneering bandleader James Reese Europe, Sample demonstrates his jazz cred with a mastery of stride and ragtime. Save for reflective and expansive reprises of hits "Spellbound" and "Soul Shadows," Sample delves into early 20th Century pop and Tin Pan Alley standards. The supple, southern syncopations on Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" and Jelly Roll Morton's sizzling "Shreveport Stomp" offer evidence of Sample's strong left hand and the elegance of his improvisations, mixing blues feeling, Creole rhythms, and elements of the European classics.

Pianist Joe Sample's Warner Bros. session mostly features relaxed acoustic music. Sample emphasizes his original melodies during his improvisations and is backed quite ably by bassist Jay Anderson, drummer Ralph Penland and an occasional percussionist. Most notable is that tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd guests on three tracks, playing in his usual mellow version of John Coltrane.