T. Grover

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…

With Jazz Loves Marvin Gaye, Universal has assembled a very solid jazz celebration of Gaye's work from their very own library of labels taken from recordings from the 1970s through the beginning of the new century. Highlights on this 11-track collection are numerous, though there aren’t any duds in the mix. The set opens with one of the highlights in Quincy Jones' reading of “What’s Going On.” Add to this the two now legendary Grover Washington Jr. performances of Gaye's tunes “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” and the sublime, nearly 16-minute “Trouble Man,” Fred Wesley's “You Sure Love to Ball,” and Gato Barbieri's expansive Latin funk take on “I Want You”…