GROVER WASHINGTON JR – INNER CITY BLUES LP – Nr MINT/EXC+ A1/B1 UK JAZZ FUNK SOUL

Grover Washington Jr – Inner City Blues
(Motown Records  1982  STMS5055)
Matrix No’s; A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from the odd light pop/crackle)

Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners & a few creases

Grover Washington, Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. He wrote some of his material and later became an arranger and producer.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Washington made some of the genre’s most memorable hits, including “Mister Magic,” “Reed Seed,” “Black Frost,” “Winelight,” “Inner City Blues” and “The Best is Yet to Come”. In addition, he performed very frequently with other artists, including Bill Withers on “Just the Two of Us” (still in regular rotation on radio today), Patti LaBelle on “The Best Is Yet to Come” and Phyllis Hyman on “A Sacred Kind of Love”. He is also remembered for his take on the Dave Brubeck classic “Take Five”, and for his 1996 version of “Soulful Strut“.

Washington had a preference for black nickel-plated saxophones made by Julius Keilwerth. These included a SX90R alto and SX90R tenor. He also played Selmer Mark VI alto in the early years. His main soprano was a black nickel plated H.Couf Superba II (also built by Keilwerth for Herbert Couf) and a Keilwerth SX90 in the last years of his life.

Inner City Blues is the debut studio album by saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. It was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in September 1971 and released in 1972 via Kudu Records.

1. “Inner City Blues” (Marvin Gaye, James Nyx Jr.) – 7:10
2. “Georgia on My Mind” (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) – 4:38
3. “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (Gaye) – 5:07
4. “Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers)/”Theme from Man and Boy” (AKA “Better Days”) (J.J. Johnson) – 8:32
5. “Until It’s Time for You to Go” (Buffy Saint-Marie) – 4:35
6. “I Loves You Porgy” (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 5:05

• Grover Washington Jr. – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
• Bob James – electric piano, arrangements and conductor
• Richard Tee – organ
• Eric Gale – guitars
• Ron Carter – basses
• Idris Muhammad – drums
• Airto Moreira – percussion
• Donald Ashworth – baritone saxophone
• Wayne Andre – trombone
• Thad Jones – trumpet, French horn
• Eugene Young – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Hilda Harris – vocals
• Marilyn Jackson – vocals
• Maeretha Stewart – vocals
• Tasha Thomas – vocals

String Section

• Maurice Brown, Charles McCracken, Alan Shulman and Anthony Sophos – cello
• Julius Brand, Paul Gershman, Julius Held, Leo Kahn, Harry Katzman, Raoul Poliakin, Max Pollikoff and Paul Winter – violin

• Creed Taylor – producer
• Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
• Bob Ciano – album design
• Steve Salmieri – photography