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Contact me at Katara-Rhythm@chiia.com |
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May 15 2008 Issue There is Magic in his Horn...thus the name... Mr. Magic. --------------------------------- During the month of December (18th) of last year, we lost one of the pioneers of contemporary jazz. Born in Buffalo, New York on December 12, 1943, Grover Washington Jr. died of a heart attack minutes after taping an appearance on the CBS Saturday Early Show. He was 56 years young. He preferred the laid back style of living rather than then the fast lane as evidenced by this quote. “In the mid-sixties I was drafted and spent my time at Fort Dix, New Jersey. I played in the 19th Army concert and jazz band. Billy Cobham was the drummer. When I got out in ‘66’, I moved to Philadelphia where I hooked up with Christine, my soulmate, wife and manager for nearly thirty years. I loved Philly, loved playing the Showboat and Cadillac Club, and loved meeting the Heath Brothers. I had a day job-worked at a one-stop record shop - but kept playing jazz and R&B at night. New York was cool – I’d gig there from time to time-but New York was too fast. Philly became my base. It still is. Philly’s my shelter of sanity.” His laid back style of living became his trademark.
Fans, who have passionately followed the career of Grover, are familiar with his accomplishments and awards. He won a Grammy Award for the 1980 released album entitled “Winelight”, one of his 20 plus LP/CD releases. He has no equal when it came to playing soprano, tenor, alto and baritone saxophones. Artist such as Gerald Albright, Najee, Kenny G, and his contemporary, Ronnie Laws have credited “Mister Magic” as a Trailblazer.
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Before Grover (BG), traditional jazz bands sounded as if every band member was playing to a different set of arrangements, while waiting on their solo spot in which to really showcase their talents. When Grover burst on the scene in 1975 with “Mister Magic”, it changed the way jazz was played, packaged, and promoted. The primary reason is that the sound crossed-over and appealed to non-traditionalist listeners who instantly became fans. And it was Grovers’ tenor saxophone playing those dancing licks that lead the way and introduced a whole new sound to the young & hip and old alike. In simplistic terms…”Mister Magic” could play.
The 1975 release of the LP Mister Magic, (Kudu Records, distributed by Motown Record Corp) was Grooves' fourth LP. It was arranged and conducted by Bob James. There were only four selections on the album. Side one offered Earth Tones (12:23 min.) This was followed by Passion Flower (5:34 min). Side two begins with his signature tune, Mister Magic (9:11min) which is a tune that starts mellow featuring Grover playing tenor sax and is followed by the great Eric Gale playing acoustic guitar. After a nice solo by Gale, Grovers' sax chimes in to speed up the groove and carry the sound to its conclusion. It is indeed tight. Everybody joins in, included Harvey Mason who is playing the drums on all selections help to bring the arrangement to a climax. Black Frost (6:07) rounds out the album selections. All four cuts left no doubt as to there was a new sheriff in town and his works would be the ones in which all that followed would be measured by. His style was imbedded somewhere in between jazz and Rhythm and Blues.
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He recorded a cut entitled Sausalito. It was about Sausalito California a few miles from San Francisco. At a time when I was planning on visiting Californian, I knew that once there, I had to visit the place that Mister Magic had musically painted such a visual picture of peace and serenity in my head. One could imagined the laid back style of this little town with its sail boats, yachts and other small sea craft looking blissfully peaceful rolling back and forth with each shift of the water while waiting for someone, anyone to back them out of the harbor and point the bow toward the sun for a sail around the San Francisco Bay Area.
The point being, Grover was the first to let you dream when listening to his music. I should say not only dream but almost literally place yourself in a traveling zone and go along with Mister Magic’s musical journey. I did visit Sausalito and found it to be just as advertised. He has teamed with some of the biggest names in the music business to produce some of the more memorable duets such as “Just The Two Of Us” with Bill Withers. He also recorded some of the most soulful renditions of Marvin Gayes’ “Inner City Blues”, “Trouble Man”, and “Mercy Mercy Me”. “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean On Me” are two more of ‘Still Bills’ recordings that Mister Magic re-recorded and applied his personal touch to the mix. “I see songs as short stories” he once said. “That’s why I learn the lyrics and hear them in my head. It’s my job to tell the story with all the sensitivity at my command.” Now you know what made Mister Magic tic and who actually put ‘play’ in the word Player. I bet you thought the word had a sexual connotation. Well! If you check out Grovers’ music you will understand the dual meaning of the word. As the old jazz masters freely admitted after attending one his concerts, “The Cat can play”.
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B.A.C. Ofthearts 
