Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 10/21/2008
The early work of alto saxophonist and composer
Grover Washington, Jr. is a rare and beautiful thing to behold. His entire
Kudu period, marked by the albums
Inner City Blues,
All the King's Horses,
Soul Box,
Mister Magic, and
Feels So Good, is brilliant, solid
urban groove
jazz played with grace, mean chops, and slippery funkiness.
Soul Box, a double LP recorded in 1973, has
Creed Taylor's production enhanced by a symphony orchestra and full-blown
jazz band arranged and conducted by
Bob James. Some of the session men include
Ron Carter,
Billy Cobham,
Eric Gale,
Idris Muhammad,
Airto, and
Richard Tee.
Soul Box only contains seven cuts. Among them are truly innovative reads of
Weather Report's
"Taurian Matador," Stevie Wonder's
"You Are the Sunshine of My Life," a side-long jam on
Marvin Gaye's
"Trouble Man" (the album's centerpiece and masterpiece), and the deep
funk of
Norman Whitfield's
"Masterpiece." "Trouble Man," however, is the cut on which all the contradictions of the session come to bear and are resolved due in large part to
Washington's deeply lyrical improvising and
James' ability to layer an orchestra into a groove. There are cadenzas written in after choruses that bring the orchestra in to accent the sketchy
funk in the tune and bring out its deep blue hues. When
Washington gets to the front of it all, he lets go like he's crying from the heart. On other tracks, the orchestra adds the right drama or sweetness -- as it does on
Wonder's cut -- but
Washington makes them grittier, with soloing that sidles up to the melody before reinventing it. For its length,
Soul Box is a modern classic for its instrumental and arrangement invention and for its deeply emotional bounty.
~Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
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