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Crusaders

The Crusaders were a prominent jazz fusion group that originally formed in Houston, Texas, in 1960. They initially went by the name "The Jazz Crusaders" and were known for their hard bop and soul jazz style. The original members of the group included Wilton Felder (saxophone), Wayne Henderson (trombone), Joe Sample (piano), Stix Hooper (drums), and Hubert Laws (flute).

In the late 1960s, the band began to shift their musical style towards jazz fusion and soul jazz, and they dropped the "Jazz" from their name, becoming simply "The Crusaders." This change reflected their move towards a more electric and groove-oriented sound.

The Crusaders became well-known for their mix of jazz, R&B, and funk, and they released numerous albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Some of their most famous tracks include "Street Life" and "Keep That Same Old Feeling." "Street Life" featured the vocals of Randy Crawford and became a major crossover hit.

The band's music was influential and widely regarded in the jazz fusion and smooth jazz genres, and they enjoyed commercial success as well as critical acclaim. The Crusaders continued to perform and record music into the 1990s, with various lineup changes. Over the years, they left a significant impact on the world of jazz and fusion music.


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26
Profile

The Crusaders: A Retrospective

Read "The Crusaders: A Retrospective" reviewed by Jason Elias


With the esteemed jazz/funk/fusion band the Crusaders as a guide, one could trace the rise and fall of commercial jazz in all in many of its permutations. The core group that is the most recognized was founded in Texas and comprised Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor sax and bass), Stix Hooper (drums) and Wayne Henderson (trombone.) In the early days, the then Jazz Crusaders fashioned a studious, hard-bop sound on the label World Pacific that appeared on songs like ...

454
Film Review

The Crusaders: Live at Montreux 2003

Read "The Crusaders: Live at Montreux 2003" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


The Crusaders Live at Montreux 2003 Eagle Eye Media 2009

The Jazz Crusaders was formed in 1960 from a group that played together in Houston, Texas. Stix Hooper, Joe Sample and Wilton Felder moved out to form the new band and pulled in Wayne Henderson to complete the basic quartet. They got rid of “Jazz" in the group's title in 1971, a reflection of the assimilation of the different streams their music imbibed including ...

323
Album Review

The Jazz Crusaders: The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions

Read "The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions" reviewed by George Harris


If songs like “Scratch" come to mind when you think of the Jazz Crusaders, you are in for a real treat with this six-CD set. Originally including “jazz" in their moniker, Wayne Henderson (trombone), Wilton Felder (tenor), Joe Sample (piano) and Stix Hooper (drums) put together a collection of studio recordings that offers a pleasant surprise for mainstream jazz fans. This rocking set reveals the origins and many directions this multifaceted band took during the musically tumultuous '60s.

Listening to ...

612
Album Review

Jazz Crusaders: The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions

Read "The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan


You would think that in this day and age of compact disc reissues and with many years of activity under our belts that just about everything worthy of release has at one time or another made it to the stores. But even though jazz stands in good steed these days in terms of the availability of classic music, there still exists small pockets of music that have somehow eluded us and that is where this set falls. And when a ...

395
Must Hear Review

The Crusaders: Crusaders I

Read "The Crusaders: Crusaders I" reviewed by John Ballon


Most people think that when the Jazz Crusaders dropped the “Jazz" from their name, they also dropped the jazz from their playing. When the band first decided to call themselves the Crusaders, it was only to expand their musical horizons beyond what was narrowly defined as “jazz" at the time. True, the band quickly came to symbolize the commercial dumbing-down of once vibrant and creative jazz musicians in the lean years of the 1970s.And true, the band eventually ...

169
Album Review

The Crusaders: Rural Renewal

Read "Rural Renewal" reviewed by Farrell Lowe


A reunion can often be a poignant event, filled with old friends, happy introductions to new faces, and revisions to relational habits; it can also lead to ossification. Rural Renewal exhibits most of these features. Expect nothing new from this album, but if you're a fan of The Crusaders' 1980s music, you'll find more of that sound with this offering.

Every track features the smooth funk grooves that made this group a crossover hit. Everything is exactly in its place, ...

112
Album Review

The Crusaders: Rural Renewal

Read "Rural Renewal" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


It’s been more than twenty years since founding members Joe Sample (keyboards), Stix Hooper (drums), and Wilton Felder (saxophones) recorded together as the Crusaders. Though much proverbial water has since flowed under their bridge, with Rural Renewal the Crusaders get back to where they once belonged, straight to the heart of their joyous juke joint roots.

The first two cuts feature Eric Clapton on first acoustic and then electric guitar. The acoustic track is mostly a non-event, ...

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2

Obituary

Legendary Crusaders Sax Man Wilton Felder Passes Away

Legendary Crusaders Sax Man Wilton Felder Passes Away

Source: Michael Ricci

Houston and the world lost a giant today with the passing of Wilton Felder, saxophonist for the fabled Crusaders. Mr. Felder was 75. Word of his passing reached the internet via longtime collaborator Ray Parker, Jr.’s Facebook page around 2 p.m. today. Felder’s passing comes only a year after the death of his lifelong friend and fellow Crusader Joe Sample. Crusaders trombonist Wayne Henderson died in April, 2014, which now leaves drummer Nesbert “Stix” Hooper as the only living Crusader ...

3

Obituary

Wayne Henderson, Jazz Crusaders Co-Founder, Dies

Wayne Henderson, Jazz Crusaders Co-Founder, Dies

Source: Michael Ricci

Wayne Henderson, trombonist and co-founding member of the popular jazz-funk band The Jazz Crusaders (later known as The Crusaders), died Friday, April 4, in Culver City, Calif. The cause of death was heart failure, according to The Crusaders' manager. Henderson was 74. Along with fellow Houston musicians Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor saxophone) and Stix Hooper (drums), Henderson moved to Southern California and rebranded the group The Jazz Crusaders. Their sound owed much to hard bop, the dominant straight-ahead ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz St. Louis Offering Half-Price Tickets for the Jazz Crusaders Concert This Saturday

Jazz St. Louis Offering Half-Price Tickets for the Jazz Crusaders Concert This Saturday

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Jazz St. Louis has just announced an offer of half-price tickets to hear the Jazz Crusaders (pictured) this Saturday, June 11 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The offer applies to the tickets regularly priced at $50 and $35, but not to the “Gold Circle" tickets selling for $100. Half-price tickets can be purchased by calling the Touhill ticket office at 314-516-4949 and using the promo code “STREETLIFE," or in person at the Touhill by using the promo code. To ...

97

Festival

Jazz This Week: The Jazz Crusaders, Wine Dine and Jazz Festival, Sylvia McNair, Coco Soul, and More

Jazz This Week: The Jazz Crusaders, Wine Dine and Jazz Festival, Sylvia McNair, Coco Soul, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Mid-summer heat has arrived in St. Louis several weeks ahead of schedule, but if you can brave the unseasonable temperatures, there are a number of jazz and creative music events worth checking out over the next few days. Today at lunchtime, the band Swing Set will play a free concert from noon to 1 p.m. at the Old Library Plaza at 8th and Locust as part of the St. Louis Public Library's “Not So Quiet" concert series. Tomorrow, there are ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz St. Louis Offering Half-Price Tickets for the Jazz Crusaders Concert This Saturday

Jazz St. Louis Offering Half-Price Tickets for the Jazz Crusaders Concert This Saturday

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Jazz St. Louis has just announced an offer of half-price tickets to hear the Jazz Crusaders (pictured) this Saturday, June 11 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The offer applies to the tickets regularly priced at $50 and $35, but not to the “Gold Circle" tickets selling for $100. Half-price tickets can be purchased by calling the Touhill ticket office at 314-516-4949 and using the promo code “STREETLIFE," or in person at the Touhill by using the promo code. To ...

112

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six Favorites from the Jazz Crusaders

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six Favorites from the Jazz Crusaders

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Today, let's check out some clips of the Jazz Crusaders, who will be in St. Louis next Saturday, June 11 to play a concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center under the auspices of Jazz St. Louis. The four original Crusaders - pianist Joe Sample, saxophonist Wilton Felder, trombonist Wayne Henderson and drummer Nesbert “Stix" Hooper - first met in the late 1950s playing in various bands in their home town of Houston. ...

217

Performance / Tour

Jazz Crusaders Reschedule St. Louis Concert for Saturday, June 11 at the Touhill

Jazz Crusaders Reschedule St. Louis Concert for Saturday, June 11 at the Touhill

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Jazz St. Louis has announced that the Jazz Crusaders (pictured) have rescheduled their St. Louis concert for 8:00 p.m., Saturday June 11 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The concert, which will feature original Crusaders members Joe Sample, Wayne Henderson and Wilton Felder, originally was scheduled for September 2010 at the Touhill, but was postponed to due to a medical issue affecting one of the musicians, reportedly Felder. Tickets for the Jazz Crusaders at the Touhill will be priced at ...

60

Recording

One Track Mind: The Jazz Crusaders, "Thank You Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Again" (1970)

One Track Mind: The Jazz Crusaders, "Thank You Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Again" (1970)

Source: Something Else!

By Pico Today is a day for giving thanks for something or another, and everyone knows what Sly Stone is grateful for. And believe me, I was intent on making this One Track Mind about a 1969 hit for the Family Stone that pretty much set the template for '70's funk, but then I got to thinking about another nifty cover that came out less then a year later. We've talked about the great, soul-jazz combo from Houston, TX called ...

142

Performance / Tour

Jazz Crusaders Postpone St. Louis Concert

Jazz Crusaders Postpone St. Louis Concert

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Some bad news today from Jazz St. Louis, as it looks like the Jazz Crusaders (pictured) won't be coming to town next month after all. Here's the statement StLJN just received via email from JSL's Devin Rodino:“Due to health issues with one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders, Jazz St. Louis has postponed their performance at the Touhill originally scheduled for Saturday, September 18, 2010.We are working to reschedule the performance and look forward to ...

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Video / DVD

Eagle to Release "The Crusaders Live at Montreux 2003" DVD on DVD October 14

Eagle to Release  "The Crusaders Live at Montreux 2003"  DVD on DVD October 14

Source: All About Jazz

Eagle Eye Media, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Eagle Rock Entertainment, will release The Crusaders Live At Montreux 2003 on DVD October 14. Originally The Jazz Crusaders, this American Institution has recorded and released over 40 albums since 1961. Coming out of Houston and relocating to Los Angeles, the original band started out in a hard bebop vein with a two-man frontline horn tandem of trombone and tenor sax. Eventually they became instrumental in changing the course of modern fusion music ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Pacific Jazz...

Mosaic Records
2005

buy

Rural Renewal

Verve Music Group
2003

buy

Healing The Wounds

GRP Records
1997

buy

The Best Of...

Pacific Jazz
1993

buy

The Vocal Album

MCA Records
1987

buy

Videos

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