1. Don't You Worry `bout a Thing
2. Jana
3. All In Love Is Fair
4. Sho Is Funky
5. Groove Junction
Hank Crawford - Alto sax
Bob James, Richard Tee - Keyboards
Idris Muhammad, Bernard Purdie - Drums
Ron Carter, Gary King - Bass
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion, conga
Pepper Adams, Romeo Penque - Baritone sax
Randy Becker, Jon Faddis, Alan Rubin - Trumpet, flugelhorn
Dave Taylor - Bass trombone
Phil Bodner - Alto flute, piccolo, tenor sax
Joe Farrell - Flute, tenor sax
Jerry Dodgion - Flute, tenor sax, soprano sax
Alexander Cores, Lewis Eley, Max Ellen, Paul Gershman, Emanuel Green, Charles Libove, Harry Lookofsky, David Nadien, Matthew Raimondi - Violin
Al Brown, Manny Vardi - Viola
Charles McCracken, George Ricci - Cello
Hank Crawford was an expressive heartfelt altoist, whose playing style crossed over from blues, r&b, to soul-jazz and funk and through his phrasing developed his own unique sound. This reissue of the original 1974 Kudu album shows off Crawford's flair to perfection.
In Don't You Worry `bout a Thing, Crawford offers up three of his own compositions coupled with two Stevie Wonder tunes. Ripping out of the blocks with Wonder's title tune, Crawford shows who's in charge with a fusion groove that's hard to shake. Jana is a bluesy ballad with some creative organ styling by Richard Tee. All In Love Is Fair, another Wonder hit, is taken at a medium tempo and develops a degree of sound sophistication not found in the Top-40 original version. Sho Is Funky is the longest cut on the disc coming in at close to thirteen minutes. As the title suggests it is pure funk but, as with such numbers, there is a great deal of rhythmic repetition interspersed with Crawford's startling alto. Groove Junction, another Crawford original, has some great Bob James electric piano in addition to Crawford's imaginative r&b-inclined alto playing.
The disc does not have any bonus tracks and thus comes in at a meagre thirty-five minutes; but they are well spent for those interested in the altoist's distinctive affecting playing.
Pierre Giroux
CD Reviews
Masterworks Jazz 88697 94374 2
