Artist:Grover Washington Jr.
Song:Mister Magic
Album:Ultimate Collection
Of course most music fans are familiar with Grover Washington Jr.'s 1981 top five hit Just the Two of Us featuring Bill Withers. But in the 70s he had success mostly on the jazz charts. The 1975 single Mister Magic was a top 20 R&B hit. Washington's 70s albums on CTI's Kudu label established what became known as Smooth Jazz. Washington's record deal with Kudu came about by accident. He was supposed to play on a Hank Crawford session. When Crawford was unable to make it, producer and CTI owner Creed Taylor asked Washington to fill in. This became Washington's 1972 debut album Inner City Blues. The album reached #4 on the Jazz Albums chart. After that, all of Washington's albums topped the jazz charts. He was CTI's most popular artist. A lot of the credit should go to pianist Bob James who arranged most of Washington's Kudu albums including the 1975 album Mister Magic. When the single Mister Magic reached #16 on the R&B Singles chart and #54 on the Billboard Hot 100, it took Washington to a new level. The Mister Magic album reached #10 on the Billboard 200. Ralph MacDonald wrote Mister Magic and he plays percussion on the album. Other musicians are Bob James on piano, Eric Gale on guitar, Gary King on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, Phil Bodnar and Jerry Dodgion on sax, Tony Studd and Wayne Andre on trombone and Jon Faddis and Marvin Stamm on trumpet. Washington recorded seven albums for Kudu. He left for Motown for the 1978 album Reed Seed because he wanted to record with his own band. When Washington signed with Elektra, he started a new band with guys he worked with at Kudu. That's the band in this video. Of course Washington had his greatest success at Elektra. He moved to Columbia in 1986 and remained there until his 1999 death. This budget comp covers Washington's entire career. Here's Grover Washington Jr. with Eric Gale on guitar, Richard Tee on Fender Rhodes piano, Paul Griffin on synthesizer, Anthony Jackson on bass, Steve Gadd on drums and Ralph MacDonald on percussion performing Mister Magic in Philadelphia June 27, 1981.
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