Continuing our look at jazz artists of the later 20th century that you might have heard of (or will hear of as you start exploring the world of jazz), we feature tonight:
Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, a saxophonist, was one of the best-known and commercially successful jazz musicians of the last quarter of the 20th century. In the earlier part of his career he occupied a middle ground between Jazz and funk or R&B, while in the 1980’s he moved in the direction of the (much-reviled) “smooth jazz” movement. However, to blame all the blandness of what smooth jazz eventually became on Grover Washington, as some have done, is in my opinion a cheap shot. But I digress…
Washington was born in Buffalo, NY, on December 12, 1943, into a music-filled household. His mother was in a church choir and his father noodled about on the saxophone and had an extensive jazz record collection. At the age of 10 his father gave him a saxophone, and soon Grover was sneaking into clubs to hear local jazz artists at work. He left Buffalo to play in a Midwestern group called the Four Clefs and then was drafted, which turned out to be his lucky break. While in the army he met drummer Billy Cobham, which turned out to be the door-opener into the world of New York jazz musicians. He soon was playing regularly in New York and in Philadelphia, which became his adopted hometown by 1967.
Signing with Motown records, he released his first album, Inner City Blues in 1971, creating a trademark sound on the bridge between jazz and funk that was to be his hallmark for essentially the rest of the decade. He recorded several additional albums for Motown, including Mister Magic in 1974, A Secret Place in 1976, a live album recorded at Philadelphia’s Bijou Theatre in 1978, and Reed Seed in 1979. With Skylarking in 1979 (his last Motown album) and Come Morning in 1980 (his first Electra album) there was a shift in his sound to a less funky, more mainstream feel. His playing was as powerful as ever, but it was smoother, reaching out to a broader audience, and commercial success followed with his album Winelight, also in 1980.
Washington’s love of basketball, especially the home-town 76ers, led him to dedicate the first track, “Let It Flow” to basketball star Julius Irving (Dr. J). The highlight of the album, and a radio hit, was his collaboration with soul artist Bill Withers, “Just The Two Of Us”. The album went platinum in 1981, and also won Grammy Awards in 1982 for Best R&B Song (“Just The Two Of Us”), and Best Jazz Fusion Performance (“Winelight”). Winelight was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
I can personally testify to the more widespread popular appeal of Winelight compared to Washington’s earlier works, for while I preferred the 1970’s albums listed above (I have all of them I mentioned except the live album), the soon-to-be Mrs. K. P. much preferred Winelight and just about near wore the album out for (shall we say) “intimate candlelit evenings.”
Notable albums in the 1980’s and 1990’s included The Best Is Yet To Come (1982), Strawberry Moon (1987), Then and Now (1988), Next Exit (1992), All My Tomorrows (1994), and Soulful Strut (1996). Next Exit featured a reinterpretation of the Brubeck-Desmond tune “Take Five,” called “Take Another Five.”
Washington was featured at President Clinton’s inauguration and also played at a 50th birthday celebration for the president at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Washington released a Christmas album in 1977, a greatest hits retrospective in 1998, and his final album, Aria, which revisited the classical music he had learned as a child.
On December 17, 1999, after taping four songs for the CBS Early Show in New York, Washington collapsed. He was taken to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a massive heart attack. A complete discography of Washinton’s work is available here.
The Grover Washington, Jr. Protect The Dream Foundation was established in February 2000 in honor of his memory and to continue Washington’s legacy of music education and community involvement:
Despite his hectic schedule Grover found time to mentor and encourage young musicians. He was involved in such programs as Harman International’s “Harman: how to listen tour”, as an instructor in the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) education program “Grammy in the Schools” and taught master classes at the Settlement Music School and at the University of Pittsburgh. Grover was also the recipient of two Honorary Doctorate degrees from Florida Memorial College and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. It was during his involvement with the Settlement Music School that he took three very young musicians under his wing and helped guide them to fulfilling their potential. The young men form the nucleus of Pieces of a Dream, a very successful jazz-fusion band for which Grover produced their first three albums.
His many awards included the Duke Ellington Memorial Humanitarian Award on 1987, NAACP Life Membership Award in 1988, University of Pittsburgh Educational Award for Excellence in 1990, the Philadelphia Music Foundation Hal Weissman Memorial Award for Community Service in 1991, Share Our Strength Award Benefit to End Hunger in 1991, the United Negro College Fund Service to the Community and Appreciation in 1992. In addition, he received the Philadelphia Music Alliance – Walk of Fame Award – Induction into the PMA Hall of Fame in 1992, City of Philadelphia Arts and Cultural Award in 1994 and the WDAS Days of Unity Award in 1996. His native Buffalo honored him with the key to the city and has a room named for him at the city’s convention center.
Other Comments
If you’re interested in living jazz artists trying to make a living instead of the weekly biography, you can find a half-dozen “new and notable” CD mini-reviews for March 2006 here, at allaboutjazz.com
March Jazz Birthdays:
1 March
Glenn Miller. Born 1904.
Ralph Towner. Born 1940.
6 March
Wes Montgomery. Born 1925.
Flora Purim. Born 1942.
8 March
Billy Childs. Born 1957.
George Coleman. Born 1935.
Dick Hyman. Born 1927.
9 March
Ornette Coleman. Born 1930.
10 March
Bix Beiderbecke. Born 1903.
11 March
Bobby McFerrin. Born 1950.
12 March
Hugh Lawson. Born 1935.
Sir Charles Thompson. Born 1918.
13 March
Terence Blanchard. Born 1962.
Charles Brackeen. Born 1940.
Roy Haynes. Born 1926.
14 March
Quincy Jones. Born 1933.
15 March
Harry James. Born 1916.
Charles Lloyd. Born 1938.
Jimmy McPartland. Born 1907.
Cecil Taylor. Born 1929.
16 March
Tommy Flanagan. Born 1930.
Barry Ries. Born 1952.
17 March
Nat King Cole. Born 1919.
18 March
Bill Frisell. Born 1951.
19 March
Eliane Elias. Born 1960.
Bill Henderson. Born 1930.
Mike Longo. Born 1939.
20 March
Harold Mabern. Born 1936.
Marian McPartland. Born 1920.
21 March
Mike Westbrook. Born 1936.
22 March
George Benson. Born 1943.
24 March
Paul McCandless. Born 1947.
25 March
Larry Gales. Born 1936.
Pete Johnson. Born 1904.
Paul Motian. Born 1931.
Makoto Ozone. Born 1961.
27 March
Harold Ashby. Born 1925.
Bill Barron. Born 1927.
Sarah Vaughan. Born 1924.
Ben Webster. Born 1909.
28 March
Donald Brown. Born 1954.
Thad Jones. Born 1923.
29 March
Michael Brecker. Born 1949.
30 March
Marilyn Crispell. Born 1947.
Astrud Gilberto. Born 1940.