Motown / Pgd
1996
Anthology: The Best Of Grover Washington Jr.
About This Album
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, but quickly moves into what he did best in his early years, making killer records full of contemporary soul-jazz recordings of the hits of the day: "Where Is the Love" and his deeply funky readings of Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," "Mercy Mercy," and especially "Trouble Man" (presented in an edited single version here that may actually be tougher than the original!), with arrangements by Bob James and Don Sebesky.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 5,11 and 13)

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Disc 2

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