* En anglais uniquement
Back in 1954, Houston pianist
Joe Sample teamed up with high school friends tenor saxophonist
Wilton Felder and drummer
Stix Hooper to form the Swingsters. Within a short time, they were joined by trombonist
Wayne Henderson, flutist
Hubert Laws, and bassist Henry Wilson and the group became
the Modern Jazz Sextet. With the move of
Sample,
Felder,
Hooper, and
Henderson to Los Angeles in 1960, the band (a quintet with the bass spot constantly changing) took on the name of
the Jazz Crusaders. The following year they made their first recordings for Pacific Jazz and throughout the 1960s the group was a popular attraction, mixing together R&B and Memphis soul elements with hard bop; its trombone/tenor frontline became a trademark. By 1971, when all of the musicians were also busy with their own projects, it was decided to call the group simply
the Crusaders so it would not be restricted to only playing jazz. After a few excellent albums during the early part of the decade (with guitarist
Larry Carlton a strong asset), the group began to decline in quality. In 1975, the band's sound radically changed when
Henderson departed to become a full-time producer. 1979's "Street Life" was a hit, but also a last hurrah. With
Hooper's decision to leave in 1983, the group no longer sounded like
the Crusaders and gradually disbanded. In the mid-'90s,
Henderson and
Felder had a reunion as
the Crusaders but in reality only
Joe Sample has had a strong solo career. ~ Scott Yanow