Sunday, Oct. 4, Wilton Felder, a bassist and tenor saxophonist, perhaps best remembered as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, died at his home in Whittier, Calif. He was 75. Last year, two other former Crusaders, pianist Joe Sample and trombonist Wayne Henderson, passed. Sample was also 75 when he died in Houston Sept. 12, 2014. At his death last April, Henderson was 74 and resided in Culver City, Calif. Only drummer Nesbert “Stix” Hooper remains of the original band.
I think it was around 1962 that the Jazz Crusaders burst on the scene with a sizzling tune called “The Young Rabbits.” It was Henderson’s composition, but the recording had an ensemble stamp with a charging, take-no-prisoners tempo. With Henderson and Felder upfront, the song climbed rapidly up the charts, which was unusual for a jazz number.
At the time of this recording, which was featured on their album “Lookin’ Ahead,” the group was only a year old, going by the name of the Jazz Crusaders. However, the Houston natives had been performing together since high school in the mid-1950s and began their professional careers as the Swingsters.
After high school, Sample attended Texas Southern University and hooked up with Henderson and the Swingsters, which then included flautist Hubert Laws and bassist Henry Wilson. There was only a modicum of success in the Houston area, so the four at the core of the band moved to Los Angeles and became the Jazz Crusaders. In 1961, they released their first album, “Freedom Sound,” on the Pacific Jazz label. Bassist Jimmy Bond and guitarist Roy Gaines performed on the recording.
With nearly a decade of performing and recording hard bop jazz, the group gradually began to shift gears, moving into the soul and funk category, though they did manage to assemble whenever the studio gigs weren’t available, particularly for Sample, Hooper and Felder. By now they had removed the “Jazz” from their name, letting their fans know they were not limited to one genre of music. Sample’s use of electronic keyboards, largely influenced by Ray Charles, and the consistent presence of an electric bass and guitar signaled a new direction that was clearly evident with the 1972 release of “Crusaders I,” featuring four compositions by Sample.
They also began adding jazzed-up pop songs to their repertory, none more popular than their version of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.” In 1979, their recording of “Street Live,” with vocals by Randy Crawford, gave them a fresh round of popularity. The tune climbed the charts and they earned their first and only Top 40 hit.
By this time, Henderson was no longer a member of the band, and by 1983, Hooper was gone, leaving Sample and Felder to keep the Crusaders’ legacy alive. But by the late 1980s, the Crusaders had made their mark, and the musicians moved on to studio dates, writing and arranging for other performers or producing their own albums, as Sample did on many occasions. He left behind an enviable trail of recordings, especially his solo performance on “Soul Shadows” (2004).
Felder, even during his stint with the Crusaders, was highly sought for studio sessions. You can hear him on bass for the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” album and numerous tracks by Joni Mitchell. On bass and saxophone he recorded with such notables as B.B. King, Randy Newman, Nancy Wilson, Steely Dan, Barry White and Cat Stevens, to mention but a few.
Hooper, the last of the Crusaders, has performed and collaborated with a list of top artists in various forms of music. Always an innovative drummer in style and technique, he mentored numerous aspiring drummers through his workshops and bands under his leadership. Musicians as famous as Quincy Jones, the Rolling Stones and even the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London have benefited from his musical genius and skills. Among his many awards are 12 Grammy nominations, top rankings in Downbeat magazine, keys to major U.S. cities and an invitation to the White House.
Yes, the Crusaders eventually embarked on individual careers, but they have a permanent place in the jazz pantheon when they played together, recording more than 25 albums. “At their best, the Crusaders create a mellow, finger-popping mood,” Robert Palmer wrote in The New York Times in 1977. “Although their sound is less adrenal than that of most jazz-rock groups, they do retain a certain visceral intensity, especially in Mr. Felder’s raw, preaching saxophone solos.”
“I remember the way each of us played and made our sound unique,” Felder told a reporter. “There was individual playing within the context of a band. We were a unit with each piece of the puzzle standing out.”
On music in general, Sample told the Los Angeles Times in 1985, “Unfortunately, in this country, there’s a lot of prejudice against the various forms of music. The jazz people hate the blues, the blues people hate rock and the rock people hate jazz. But how can anyone hate music? We tend to not hate any form of music, so we blend it all together. And consequently, we’re always finding ourselves in big trouble with everybody.”
But at the same time, they were able to create a pleasant concoction of jazz-funk that cut across musical borders, and their collective sound never failed to find a groove and a grove of appreciation among its countless fans.
The recently departed Felder gets the last word. “Most Texas saxophonists used to play in clubs where you didn’t have microphones, and after the early 1940s, there were usually electric guitarists who played with their amplifiers turned way up,” he said, explaining why he played with such a powerful sound. “So if you were playing saxophone, in order to be heard, you got a big steel mouthpiece and a hard reed. And you learned to play strong.”
Not only him, but the entire group learned to play strong and compellingly, and if you don’t believe me, go to YouTube and summon “The Young Rabbits.”