Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel includes: Grover Washington Jr. (soprano & tenor saxophones, flute); Bill Withers, Patti Labelle, Grady Tate (vocals); Billy Childs (piano, synthesizer); Richard Tee (Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards); Marcus Miller (synthesizer, bass); Dexter Wansel (synthesizer); Eric Gale, Lee Ritenour (guitar); Cedric Napoleon, Abe Laboriel (bass); Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason, Buddy Williams (drums); Ralph MacDonald (congas, Syndrums, shaker, bells, percussion); Victor Feldman, Leonard "Doc" Gibbs (percussion). | | Producers: Grover Washington Jr., Ralph MacDonald, Dexter Wansel, Nathan Sassover. | | Compilation producer: Barry Benson. | | Engineers include: Richard Alderson, Pete Humphries, Dennis Sands. | | Includes liner notes by Janine Coveney. | | Digitally remastered by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot (DigiPrep). | | Personnel: Grover Washington, Jr. (saxophone); Bill Withers (vocals); Eric Gale (guitar); Richard Tee (Fender Rhodes piano); Dexter Wansel (synthesizer); Ed Walsh, Bill Eaton (Oberheim synthesizer); Millard Vinson, Robert Greenidge, Steve Gadd (drums); Ralph MacDonald (congas, percussion); Leonard "Doc" Gibbs (percussion); Ullanda McCullough, Yvonne Lewis, Zachary Sanders, Hilda Harris (background vocals). | | Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Bill Inglot. | | Rhino in the U.K. issued this so-called Platinum Collection. It is a single disc of 13 tracks from Grover Washington, Jr.'s period with Elektra, beginning with 1980's Come Morning and running through 1984's Inside Moves, when he jumped ship for Columbia. There were certainly hit records during the period, "Winelight" being the biggest, and Washington's singles charted, but his albums had become lackluster and the compilers of this knew it, which is why there are cross-licensed tunes from other labels such as the smash duet with Bill Withers on the Ralph McDonald-penned "Just the Two of Us." Truth of the matter is, this is an exact copy of the WEA International compilation called Definitive Grover Washington, Jr.: The Elektra Years and the previous Rhino edition called 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Grover Washington, Jr. It has little to recommend it. Any real Grover Washington collection has to include cuts from his Kudu and Motown periods just to get started. It is far more advisable to pick up the Hip-O collection entitled Ultimate Collection. ~ Thom Jurek | | Grover Washington, Jr.'s mosaic jazz persona balms like an elixir on 13 mellow ones from his 1979 to 1984 Elektra Records period; Love Songs features at least one title from each of his five Elektra albums. These were melodious times for Washington who happily demonstrates his virtuosity on multiple reed instruments and the flute, accompanied by backing singers, acclaimed studio musicians, and star vocalists. Bill Withers unites with Washington on the chart-busting "Just the Two of Us"; Patti Labelle joins him on Cynthia Biggs and Dexter Wansel's "The Best Is Yet to Come"; and Grady Tate croons "Be Mine Tonight." Leonard "Doc" Gibbs, better-known now as chef Emeril Lagasse's bandleader (on his cooking show), burns on percussions. This is smooth urban jazz at its finest; even Bob Marley's "Jammin'," a rocker for sure, comes off buttery. If you don't have any of Washington's LPs from this era, this is a good catch-up. Silky joints like "Winelight," "Let It Flow (For 'Dr. J')," "East River Drive," and others make listening a pleasure: not the challenge that jazz purists prefer. Even if you're lukewarm about jazz you'll enjoy these accessible spins. ~ Andrew Hamilton |
Musical Guests | | Bill Withers | | Patti LaBelle | | Eric Gale | | Richard Tee | | Ralph MacDonald | | Steve Gadd | | Grady Tate | | Marcus Miller |
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