More Info on Grover Washington Jr.Similar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Grover Washington, Jr.| image =| caption =| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name = Grover Washington, Jr.| alias =| Born = birth date|1943|12|12 Buffalo, New York | Died = Death date and age|mf=yes|1999|12|17|1943|12|12 New York City, New York | origin =| instrument = Singing|Vocals , Saxophone | genre = Jazz , Soul music|Soul , R& B | occupation = Musician , Saxophonist , Singer-songwriter | years_active = 1971–1999| label = Kudu Records|Kudu , Motown Records|Motown , Elektra Records|Elektra , Columbia Records|Columbia | associated_acts =| website = Grover Washington, Jr. (December 12, 1943 - December 17, 1999)Allmusic|class=artist|id=p136173/biography|pure_url=yes allmusic Biography was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist . Along with George Benson , John Klemmer , David Sanborn , Bob James (musician)|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.Citation needed|date=July 2007He 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 (Grover Washington, Jr. song)|Just the Two of Us " (still in regular rotation on radio today), Patti LaBelle on " The Best Is Yet To Come (Grover Washington Jr. song)|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 saxophone s made by Julius Keilwerth . These included a SX90R alto saxophone|alto and SX90R tenor saxophone|tenor . He also played The Selmer Company|Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone|alto in the early years. His main soprano saxophone|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.
Biography
Early life
Washington was born in Buffalo, New York on December 12, 1943. His mother was a Church choir|church chorister , and his father was a collector of old Jazz gramophone records and a saxophonist as well, so music was everywhere in the home. He grew up with the great jazzmen and big band leaders like Benny Goodman , Fletcher Henderson , and others like them. At the age of 8, Grover Sr. gave Jr. a saxophone. He practiced and would sneak into clubs to see famous Buffalo blues musicians.
Early career
Washington left Buffalo and played with a Midwest group called the Four Clefs and then the Mark III Trio from Mansfield, Ohio. He was drafted into the United States Army|U.S. Army shortly thereafter, which was to be to his advantage, as he met drummer Billy Cobham . A music mainstay in New York City , Cobham introduced Washington to many New York musicians. After leaving the Army, Washington freelanced his talents around New York City, eventually landing in Philadelphia in 1967. In 1970 and 1971, he appeared on Leon Spencer 's first two albums on Prestige Records , together with Idris Muhammad and Melvin Sparks .
Washington's big break came at the expense of another artist. Alto saxophone|Alto sax man Hank Crawford was unable to make a recording date with Creed Taylor 's CTI Records|Kudu Records , http://www.dougpayne.com/kudut.htm www.dougpayne.com and Washington took his place, even though he was a backup. This led to his first solo album, Inner City Blues . He was talented and displayed heart and soul with soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. Refreshing for his time, he made headway into the jazz mainstream.
Fame
Whilst his first three albums established him as a force in jazz and soul music, it was his fourth album in 1974, Mister Magic , that proved a major commercial success. The album climbed to number 10 in Billboard's Top 40 album chart and the title track reached #16 on the R& B singles chart (#54, pop). All these albums included guitarist Eric Gale as a near-permanent member in Washington's arsenal. His follow-up on Kudu in 1975, Feels So Good also made #10 on the album chart.
A string of acclaimed records brought Washington through the 1970s, culminating in the signature piece for everything he would do from then on. Winelight (1980) was the album that defined everything Washington was then about, having signed for Elektra Records, part of the major Warner Music group. The album was smooth, fused with R& B and easy listening feel. Washington's love of basketball , especially the Philadelphia 76ers , led him to dedicate the second track, "Let It Flow", to Julius Erving (Dr. J). The highlight of the album was his collaboration with soul music|soul artist Bill Withers , "Just the Two of Us," a huge hit on radio during the spring and summer of 1981, peaking at #2 on the Hot 100 . The album went platinum album|platinum in 1981, and also won Grammy Awards of 1982|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.
In the post- Winelight era, Washington is credited for giving rise to a new batch of talent that would make its mark in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is known for bringing Kenny G to the forefront as well as such smooth jazz artists as Walter Beasley, Steve Cole , Pamela Williams , Najee , and George Howard (jazz)|George Howard . His song Mr. Magic is noted as being influential on Go-go music starting in the mid-1970s.cite news | last = Chang | first = Jeff | title = Wind me up, Chuck! | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = San Francisco Bay Guardian | date = June 2001 | url = http://www.sfbg.com/noise/44-01/chuk.html | accessdate = 2007-06-01
Death
On December 17, 1999, while waiting in the green room after taping four songs for The Saturday Early Show , at CBS Studios in New York City , Washington collapsed. He was taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 7:30 p.m. He was 56 years old. His doctors determined that he had suffered a massive myocardial infarction|heart attack .
Tributes
A large mural of Washington, part of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program , is just south of the intersection of Broad and Diamond Streets. http://maps.google.com/maps? q=broad+and+diamond+sts+philadelphia+pa Mural can be seen in Street View.
Discography
As leader
1971: Inner City Blues (Grover Washington, Jr. album)|Inner City Blues ( Kudu Records )
1972: '' All the King's Horses (Grover Washington, Jr. album)|All the King's Horses (Kudu)
1973: Soul Box (Kudu)
1974: Mister Magic (Kudu)
1975: Feels So Good (Grover Washington, Jr. album)|Feels So Good (Kudu)
http://www.groverwashingtonjr.com/ Official website
http://www.legacyrecordings.com/Grover-Washington-Jr.aspx Grover Washington, Jr. at Legacy Recordings
http://www.cmusictv.com/? id=29& tid=271 Grover Washington TV Interview from C Music TV
http://streams.wgbh.org/online/play.php? xml=specials/jazz_conversations/jazz_1994_10_19_washington_grover.xml& template=wgbh_audio Jazz Conversations with Eric Jackson: Grover Washington Jr. from http://www.wgbh.org/jazz WGBH Radio Boston
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi? page=gr& GRid=11983 Grover Washington Jr. At Find A Grave
Persondata | NAME = Washington, Grover, Jr. | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = December 12, 1943 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = December 17, 1999 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Grover, Jr. Category:1943 births Category:1999 deaths Category:American jazz soprano saxophonists Category:American jazz alto saxophonists Category:American jazz tenor saxophonists Category:American jazz composers Category:Soul-jazz saxophonists Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:People from Buffalo, New York Category:Smooth jazz saxophonists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Motown artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Elektra Records artists
cs:Grover Washington, Jr. da:Grover Washington Jr. de:Grover Washington, Jr. es:Grover Washington, Jr. fr:Grover Washington, Jr. it:Grover Washington Jr. nl:Grover Washington jr. ja:??????·?????·???? no:Grover Washington pl:Grover Washington Jr pt:Grover Washington, Jr. sv:Grover Washington, Jr.
