Search - Grover Washington Jr :: Soul Box (Dig)

Soul Drip

vivek savant | Chicago, IL | 01/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Utterly beautiful - the wailing, bluesy tenor of Grover married to equally meaningful compostions. This must easily be the most underated reissue of 2008 - I came across it in a "going out of business" Circuit City store and could not believe my eyes to the gem I had found. Had read great reviews about this staple of the CTI jazz-funk library and it fits that bill. Sans the terse "smooth" cover of Bread's Aubrey that really doesn't gel with the rest of the labum, the rest is a long soul-jam filled with improvs and workouts, esp the crying soul of "Trouble Man" that over the span of 15 minutes, Grover manages to tell the story w/o uttering a single ord - that powerful is his playing. Bob James production or even the strings for that matter work well in this setup.



Highlight of course is the closer, Billy Cobham's (who's also the feature drummer) Taurian Matador wherein the fender bass locks into Cobhams over the top snare atop which Grover just rips it.



If you liked the funk of "Feels So Good", then think of this as the live-improvised beast from the same cage. Also reccomended is 1977s Live at the Bijou which too has long jams but are more groove based than the (spacier) jazz nature of this one.

"

Jazzman

James K. Stewart | Louisville, Ky USA | 11/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oh, this is SO fantastic and beautiful. This is a re-issue on one cd (re-

mastered) that was available only very briefly on 2 Motown cd's many years

ago (vol.1, vol.2). If you are to own only 1 Grover Washington Jr. re-

cording, this is the one. Originally released as 2 albums in a box set

on the KUDU label (CTI auxillary) back in the early 70's, this is utter

perfection and brilliance from start to finish. Several of the tracks are

over 10 minutes in length. Bob James arranged/conducted this session with

a who's-who of the CTI/KUDU 70's all star studio cats with added strings

and voices, and brilliantly recorded. "Trouble Man", "Masterpiece", "Don't

Explain", "Easy Living/Ain't Nobody's business" all just kick a**. This

was a stellar effort for Bob James at his best. It all meshes so well.

I've listened to it countless times since the first time I heard it and

was blown away. It was my first Grover Washington album, and I still

think it's his best. Sadly, Grover is no longer with us and left us

MUCH too soon, but his fabulous music (such as this) will live on forever.

A masterpiece indeed. Thanks Grover. 20 million stars."