a Kind of Love

SoulMusic Records is very proud to present “Sacred Kind Of Love: The Columbia Recordings,” a 5-disc deluxe box set of six stellar albums, spanning nine years (1987-1996) by legendary saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., justifiably considered an influential pioneer in fusing jazz, soul, R&B and pop and bringing his distinctive sound to mainstream audiences globally.

The Mindbenders in their post-Wayne Fontana configuration were a hot little British pub trio specializing in a kind of jazzy rock similar in a lot of ways to the Zombies or Traffic, and they amount to one of the great lost groups of the 1960s. Although they had two strong songwriters in Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman (together they would go on to form one half of 10cc), the Mindbenders were also one hell of a cover band, and their recorded legacy is surprisingly diverse because of it. This two-disc, 37-track set, which collects the two LPs, six EPs, and ten singles the group released between 1966 and 1968, is a revelation in that regard - it includes imaginatively done garage soul covers of “Shotgun,” “Mystery Train,” and “The Seventh Son” alongside the pipe dream psychedelia of “Yellow Brick Road” and the hazy sunshine pop of “A Groovy Kind of Love”…

Two former LPs were reissued in full on this single CD. The earlier date features pianist Erroll Garner in typically brilliant and witty form with his 1961 trio, which also included bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Kelly Martin. Whether it be a sly "My Silent Love," "All of Me," or a joyful "Back In Your Own Backyard," Garner is heard throughout in his prime. The later date is a bit more unusual, for the pianist improvises on ten themes that would be used in the Paul Newman film A New Kind of Love. Joined by a big band and string orchestra conducted by Leith Stevens, Garner, who never learned to read or write music, contributed several original themes to the score (a few of which are quite catchy) in addition to jamming on such tunes as "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me," "Louise," and "Mimi"…

This 20-track CD includes all of the songs from Rose's 1970 album Love, a Kind of Hate Story and his self-titled 1972 Playboy album Tim Rose, which is an entirely different record than the self-titled album he made for CBS in 1967. Note that this reissue, sequenced by Rose himself, does not follow the original running orders of the two albums, or even present one after the other, but mixes tracks from the two together. The effect of that strategy is questionable, but if you find it jarring, it's easy enough to reprogram the albums in their original running order (which is given in the liner notes). Love, a Kind of Hate Story is a middling album, produced by Shel Talmy, and a little heavier on the "rock" in folk-rock than Rose's 1960s recordings were…