Search - Hank Crawford, Calvin Newborne :: Centerpiece

Former Ray Charles band musical director,Memphis born alto sax man Hank Crawford bridges the gap between funky soulful blues and straight ahead jazz more completely than any living horn player. He formed his own group in 1963 and has been going strong ever since,producing lots of high-profile award winning albums and writing and arranging for such greats as Dr. John, organist Jimmy McGriff and guitarist Melvin Sparks. Teaming up with Memphis guitar legend Calvin Newborn -the man who played on B.B King's first recordings and, as legend has it,taught a young Elvis Presley how to dance - Crawford produced a rare-groove masterpiece in the late 70's for the fledgling Versatile label that rivaled the many popular Creed Taylor produced records of the day. The Memphis legend's resulting album titled "Centerpiece" boasted some ofthe coolest rare groove every committed to record - straight-up jazzyMemphis funk drenched in soul. Recorded in 1978, at long last this classic LP finally makes its CD debut.