RarePhillySax

Alto saxophonist William "Sonny" Criss was an anomaly of the jazz musicians who came up during the bebop era. Criss moved to Los Angeles from Memphis at the age of 15, and at 19 played in Howard McGhee's band with Charlie Parker and Teddy Edwards. As was the norm for every alto player, Parker exerted a huge influence on Criss' playing. His beefy, earthy tone can be heard on a number of Savoy sessions beginning the next year. Criss drifted, playing in jazz and R&B groups, including those led by Johnny Otis, Billy Eckstine, and Stan Kenton. After joining Buddy Rich in 1956, Criss recorded Jazz U.S.A. for Imperial as a leader; it's one of the true underground classics of the hard bop era. Imperial -- mainly an R&B label specializing in New Orleans acts such as Fats Domino -- put no promotional push behind it. Nonetheless, he was able to cut two more sessions for the label: the excellent Go Man! and Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter. Still playing with Rich, Cri...

Richard Stepp 's first taste of fame came when he joined rock group The Northwest Company in 1967. They were often the opening act for visiting groups like The Who and The Byrds. After their lead singer departed, Richard found himself pulling triple duty as drummer, lead singer and songwriter. His songs were also picked for the A side for the groups last three singles. After the NW Co broke up in 1974, Richard landed a deal with the brand new Mushroom Records and then with Casino Records with veteran producer Andy DiMartino. Fronting a new band, Shakedown, he became a strong draw in western Canada, playing clubs, doing TV, and concerts with Chuck Berry, Trooper, and Long John Baldrey. Andy DiMartino recognized Richard's obvious talents, and took him to Los Angeles where they recorded an album of strong MOR/AR music using some of LA's top players. The album Holiday In Hollywood was released on MCA's speciality label Infinity Records and the title track was released ...

Scholars researching the influence of Batman on soul music including rap and hip-hop should put the name of Charles Johnson in bold-face type, providing they can figure out just which Charles Johnson is under discussion. Not to be confused with the gospel guitarist, to name just one possible case of mistaken identity, this Johnson has more than three decades of experience as a performer and began toiling as a producer in the early '90s. In this period he began constructing his dream recording studio, a facility that came to be known as the Funkcave because of Johnson's adoration for the aforementioned masked and caped crusader. This led to a record label called Funkcave in 1996, founded by Johnson and his best friend, the late Eddie Dean, Jr. Johnson is considered something of an innovator in the recording craft, his ideas in the area of sound design unique and refreshing. His most devoted fans look for traces of his talent in even his earliest collaborations, while collecto...

Joyce Cobb is recognized as one of Memphis Tennessee's finest vocalists. For decades, Joyce Cobb has been delivering her unique elegant style of jazz, pop, contemporary, and soul music to audiences throughout the mid-South region and across the country! Joyce Cobb definitely has one of the deepest song lists you'll ever hear, - everything from jazz to blues, standards to pop, r&b to country, and even some "scattin'" and reggae thrown in for good measure. Joyce Cobb is a master at reading the audience and playing to them, and leading them on a magical musical journey! Not only is Joyce Cobb one of the most versatile vocalists in the region today, but she can also scale her show to your needs, performing as a trio, quartet, large band, and even a full orchestra! Her seven piece band is comprised of some of the finest players in the region: Joyce Cobb: vocals & harmonica; Jim Arnold: guitar; Mike Adams: electric & upright bass; J.T. Page: piano; Kim ...

William Eaton recorded in 1977 on Marlin Records the album entitled “ Struggle Buggy ” which features appearances by Ralph McDonald , Steve Gadd , Michael &amp ; Randy Brecker , Eric Gale , Tom Scott and some vocalists as Patti Austin , Vivian Chery and Zack Sanders . I chose the track “ Friends and lovers ”. Vocal by Zack Sanders. Tenor sax solo by Michael Brecker . Produced by Ralph McDonald, William Salter & William Eaton. Enjoy it. Note: The above posted track is not played in full

I'm back. I experienced a minor health problem. Thanks for being patient all this time. Making up for lost time, I decided to post the incredible talent of DEMO CATES.

Canada has not been kind to creative artists in general and black artists in particular. Consider the fact that Rick James, Claudja Barry, Eric Mercury and Gino Vanelli all had to leave before the international spotlight shone on them. Demo Cates’s second solo album Memories and Moments should reverse this situation. The obvious questions is who is Demo Cates and what’s so special about his album Memories and Moments? Demo wears many hats as a producer, arranger, songwriter, musician and vocalist. He hails from Detroit, a city that he credits for giving him his awareness of a wide spectrum of music. Today he resides in Canada. His roots are based in Jazz, which can be traced to when his mother gave him a saxophone at age 10. He grew up listening to Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, Joe Henderson and Eddie Harris. He plays alto, tenor and soprano saxophones as well as the flute. Demo was an intricate part of the Counts, local legends in Detroit for 12 years and ...

About a year ago, I and my friend Nicolas Drosos ( www.chicwise.blogspot.com ) found an unknown sample. A week later we sent this sample to Paul Collins known for his Radio show “ The Soul Cellar ” on Solar Radio . Paul found this unknown track. The track was “Caught up in a whirlwind” by RICHARD STEPP from 1979 !!! Then Paul bought the original LP and played this track on his show. In a few days this track became big success (Top Ten on Radio stations in England). After one year, Expansion Records released it as a 7”inch reissue and also was included in the recent Soul Togetherness Vol 8 compilation. Even CD BABY re-released this week Stepp's album on CD !!!! Enjoy this special arrangement here below. Note : The above posted single is not played in full I would really appreciate your comments on this one .

Wee was an obscure soul group from Columbus, Ohio. Norman Whiteside was the Band leader especially as songwriter, Glen “Spanky” Jones on bass, Benji Harris on drums, Victor Martin (childhood friend with Norman) and Bimbo Brown. They recorded one and only ultra rare Lp in 1975-76 and released in 1977 on Owl Records. The pressing was a modest 1000 copies. Recently the label Numero Group re-released on CD. I chose unreleased track " I want to show you ". Note: The above posted track is not played in full

Since his initial solo style favoured funky vamps instead of risky improvisation, organist Ronnie Foster was frequently dismissed by jazz purists during the peak of his career in the first half of the '70s. However, he was a talented mainstream funk and soul-jazz keyboardist who managed to cultivate a successful career as a sideman (working frequently with George Benson, in particular) and producer during the late '70s,'80s and '90s. Furthermore, his '70s records for Blue Note became cult items among a new generation of listeners raised on acid-jazz. Even if he rarely led a session after 1979, Foster wound up playing a some sort of a role in mainstream and funk-jazz during the '80s and '90s. I have got two albums by Ronnie Foster on Columbia Records. From Lp in 1979, I chose sweet track “ When will I write you a song? ” Drums by Leon Ndugu Changler, bass by Robert Popwell, keyboards and lead vocal by Ronnie Foster, background vocals by Phyllis Hyman, Khabi...

Carlton Robinson  is a guitarist, bassist and the leader  from the group  Ujima (1972-75) and Anglo Saxon Brown (1976). He is also the uncle of Stacy Henry who had a group named " The Majestics " from mid-60's to the early 70’s. This 12 inch is an obscure and rare. The style is boogie/jazz. Carlton Robinson recorded for Style Records And Tapes  with the jazz band Tomorrow’s People around 1982. Produced by August Moon and Carlton Robinson. Carlton Robinson also together with August Moon produced a single for R.L.Jackson circa 80s. August Moon was the producer of " The Whole Darn Family " album in 1976. Note : The above posted single is not played in full. Did Carlton Robinson release any other records? If you know then please email me at the address above.