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.
| Inner City Blues | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1972 | |||
| Recorded | September 1971 | |||
| Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 35:07 | |||
| Label | Kudu KU-03 | |||
| Producer | Creed Taylor | |||
| Grover Washington Jr. chronology | ||||
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Background
editThe title track was a cover of the recent hit by Marvin Gaye released in June 1971. The album also includes a cover of Bill Withers' hit "Ain't No Sunshine", released shortly before recording this album. In 2008, it was reissued on CD by Verve Records.
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |  [4] |
| Record Collector | [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
Thom Jurek of AllMusic stated: "This is an amazing debut in so many ways, and it was followed by a run of albums for the label through the end of the '70s when Washington left for Elektra. Inner City Blues remains standing today as a landmark and a turning point in jazz."[1]
Track listing
edit- "Inner City Blues" (Marvin Gaye, James Nyx Jr.) – 7:10
- "Georgia on My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) – 4:38
- "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Gaye) – 5:07
- "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers)/"Theme from Man and Boy" (AKA "Better Days") (J.J. Johnson) – 8:32
- "Until It's Time for You to Go" (Buffy Saint-Marie) – 4:35
- "I Loves You Porgy" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 5:05
Personnel
edit- 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
Production
edit- Creed Taylor – producer
- Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
- Bob Ciano – album design
- Steve Salmieri – photography
References
edit- ^ a b Inner City Blues at AllMusic
- ^ Waring, Charles. "Inner City Blues - Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 203. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1468. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.