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Most albums include facts that will make casual listeners and hard-core fans alike say “wow” or “ahh” or “hmm.” I was reading the publicity materials related to Live, the new project from Randy Crawford and Joe Sample, when I came across something that – if you can’t call it jaw dropping – is still pretty interesting: I learned that Live is Crawford’s first live album. That’s surprising, since Crawford’s career as a solo artist dates back to the mid 1970s – before she became a household name by singing the title track on the Crusaders’ 1979 album Street Life.
Most albums include facts that will make casual listeners and hard-core fans alike say “wow” or “ahh” or “hmm.” I was reading the publicity materials related to Live, the new project from Randy Crawford and Joe Sample, when I came across something that – if you can’t call it jaw dropping – is still pretty interesting: I learned that Live is Crawford’s first live album. That’s surprising, since Crawford’s career as a solo artist dates back to the mid 1970s – before she became a household name by singing the title track on the Crusaders’ 1979 album Street Life.
Live is a recording of a concert held in Dusseldorf, Germany. The show pairs Crawford with her longtime friend and collaborator pianist Sample, his son, bassist Nicklas Sample, and drummer Steve Gadd. The backing trio gives the show an intimate feel, which places the focus on Crawford’s voice and on Sample’s piano playing. Crawford’s voice always had a youthful quality that added joy even to gritty material such as “Street Life,” and the years of done little to change her instrument. Crawford adeptly handles well known tracks such as “Everyday I Have the Blues,” the classic soul “Rainy Night in Georgia” and the gospel tinged “This Bitter Earth” and showcases her range by matching Joe Smple’s swing on the jazz standard “Me Myself and I.”
Sample, of course, is one of fusion’s most energetic and swinging piano players. He has always had a rapport with female vocalist, as his work with the likes of Crawford and Lalah Hathaway shows. Sample solos are memorable, not because he plays fast but because he gets so much out of a minimalist approach. This is the case throughout Live where Sample’s playing provides the perfect match for intimate settings on well-known Crawford/Sample numbers such as “No Regrets” and “One Day I’ll Fly Away. Crusaders fans fondly recall the album version of the hit “Street Life.” Those horns and strings combined with lyrics that told the story of the underbelly of city life to give “Street Life” a theatrical feel. Live finds Crawford and the trio of Sample, Sample and Gadd free to render a more intimate version of the number. Gadd grabs his brushes and gives the song a Latin shuffle beat while Nicklas Sample’s bass playing provides that element of 1970s funk.
It’s surprising that Live is Crawford’s first live album, and its release is overdue. Live albums serve as the proving ground for any artist. It’s where all of the artifice and technology is stripped away, and listeners learn whether a performer has the chops. Of course, there was never any question about Crawford’s vocal bona fides, so Live serves simply as a confirmation of what we already knew. But the record allows us to hear a legendary performer in a fantastic setting: Randy Crawford displays a tremendous stage presence and an ease and rapport with the band and the crowd -- in short, an artist with the total package. Recommended.
By Howard Dukes