Crusaders - 1 (Blue Thumb)

It was a move easily construed as a band capitulating to crass consumerism: In 1971, the Jazz Crusaders dropped the key qualifier in their name and revamped their sound to incorporate a phalanx of electric guitars and slick studio production. Also evident in the metamorphosis were stylistic changes that introduced facets of rock, funk and AM radio pop. Saxophonist Wilton Felder added amplified bass to his instrumental range and pianist Joe Sample supplemented traditional ivories with a battery of keyboards. The ensemble’s inaugural effort on the new streamlined moniker announced these changes in unequivocal terms with the opener “That’s How I Feel.” Wah wah and fuzztone guitars weave with comping electric and acoustic keys and rubberband bass line to create savory slice of urban funk. Carole King’s “So Far Away” receives an epic treatment, stretching to almost 12-minutes and moving well beyond the familiar hummable melody into prolonged passages of mohair and Pall-Malls-scented loungeness. The remainder of the double album strikes a sometimes-wobbly balance between elements from Westbound lite funk of “Put It Where You Want It” to the Rhodes and rhythm workout “Full Moon.” The JB’s receive a nod on the twangy crawdad feed “Mud Hole” with tight horn charts riffing atop another bed of wah wah guitar and bait-bobbing bass while Sample gets back to juke and chapel roots with “Georgia Cottonfield.” “A Shade of Blues” slinks and slithers like an Isaac Hayes blaxploitation outtake with a killer Felder tenor declaration while the closing “Mosadi (Woman)” taps early Earth, Wind & Fire. The Crusaders were still finding their sea legs in a fresh crosscurrent of influences and it shows, but that doesn’t make this any less listenable or germane to a freewheeling party setting, saccharine sections and all.