Comment: Items are from new to used in good condition. Postage to UK is same as with a UK seller. Shipping time is app. 5-7 businessdays. You buy:Randy Crawford - Very best of (1993) - CD - Shipped within 24 hours. Listen to Best Of Randy Crawford on Spotify. Randy Crawford Compilation 2011 16 songs.
- Best Of Randy Crawford buy CD music Ms. Randy Crawford does it again as this CD is a Collection of her best songs. Since her days with the jazz band The Crusaders, Randy has been 'Quite Randy' at making it on her own as a soulful, emotional Diva of the soft jazz sound.
- Listen free to Randy Crawford – The Very Best of Randy Crawford (Street Life, One Day I'll Fly Away and more). 18 tracks (76:15). Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at Last.fm.
- Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for The Very Best of Randy Crawford - Randy Crawford on AllMusic - 1994 - This import 16-song anthology contains some great.
Although the Crusaders could not have known it at the time, their recording of 'Street Life' (which features a memorable vocal by Randy Crawford) was a last hurrah for the 20-year old group. Their recordings of the next few years would decline in interest until the band gradually faded away in the '80s. However this particular set is well worth picking up for the 11-minute title cut and there is good playing by the three original members (Wilton Felder on tenor, soprano and electric bass, keyboardist Joe Sample and drummer Stix Hooper) along with guitarist Barry Finnerty; horn and string sections, plus additional guitarists are utilized on Sample's commercial but listenable arrangements.
I bought this album when it first came out in '79. This is the album that introduced the Crusaders to a much wider audience and did the same for MISS RANDY CRAWFORD. This is a musical match made in HEAVEN. The only drawback is that Randy and the group didn't work together more often after this project.
This album is one of the classic jazz/funk exercises of the era. A time when the fusion of jazz and funk was at perfection. To me, jazz/funk has evolved into 'acid jazz' more so than 'smooth jazz' and with the Crusaders, and this album, you're listening to the innovators of both genres.
The jam 'Street Life,' starts the album off with a bang. This tune paints a picture of 'street life' at its classiest, thanks to Randy's vocal performance. You are given a picture of how you can 'play your life away,' but because Randy's vocal is so seductive, you want to take your chances and play anyway.
From there, you move to the funky/smooth 'My Lady' and Wilton Felder's melodic sax. Then it's back to groovin' with 'Rodeo Drive.' The Crusaders keep it funky with 'Carnival of the Night' and 'The Hustler.' Then they smooth it out with 'Night Faces.'
Adding to the seductive nature of the album is Wilton Felder's horn work. It is his playing along with the standout title track that sets the mood for your musical experience. You listen to this and you can picture yourself living the 'street life.' A masterpiece.
Of all the great albums the Crusader's have issued, Street Life is tops. Its kind of ironic that I didn't really like the title cut when it was released,(preferring instrumentals instead) but now it is one of my two favorite cuts on the album. Its not just the tremendous voice of Randy Crawford, its the awful plain truth of the lyrics. People in the fast lane living the street life would do well to heed the song's powerful message. The instrumentals are great too, but the real stand-out is the sax-powered Rodeo Drive (High Steppin'). I can listen to that over and over again. I've owned Street Life since its release more than 20 years ago and I never get tired of hearing it as it is positively mesmerizing.
The Crusaders' 1979 album 'Street Life' would have to be one of the greatest albums ever made to date. The reason for that would have to be the classic disco-jazz-funk song of the same name in which the great soul singer Randy Crawford helped make into a huge hit.
Wilton Felder (saxophones/bass), Joe Sample (keyboards) and Stix Hooper (drums) show why they know how to keep things together on the whole album musically and universally, even with the help of other sessions musicians like bassist Robert 'Pops' Popwell and guitarist Larry Carlton and the use of some peachy string, horn or other instrumental arrangements here and there.
A Must-Buy and Must-Hear Experince for any Crusaders fans wherever you might be in the world.
Track listing
'Street Life' (Will Jennings, Joe Sample) – 11:18
'My Lady' (Wilton Felder) – 6:43
'Rodeo Drive (High Steppin')' (Sample) – 4:28
'Carnival of the Night' (Felder) – 6:24
'The Hustler' (Stix Hooper) – 5:18
'Night Faces' (Sample) – 5:10
Personnel
Arthur Adams - guitar
Roland Bautista - guitar
Oscar Brashear - trumpet
Garnett Brown - trombone
Randy Crawford - vocals
Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
Wilton Felder - saxophone, bass guitar, producer
Barry Finnerty - guitar
William Green - saxophone
Stix Hooper - drums, producer
Paul Jackson Jr. - guitar
James Jamerson - bass guitar
Alphonso Johnson - bass guitar
Robert O'Bryan - trumpet
Jerome Richardson - saxophone
Randy Crawford The Best Of Rar Reader
Billy Rogers - guitar
Randy Crawford Music
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