HANK CRAWFORD — Wildflower (1973-2002) Serie Best Value | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Hank Crawford's '60s sides for Atlantic rightfully established him among the preeminent soul-jazz saxophonists. For pure phrasing and feel, Crawford was in a class by himself. When Creed Taylor kicked off CTI in 1970, he brought Crawford on board immediately. This date from 1973 – one of eight cut between 1971 and 1978 – is Crawford's strongest for the label and one of the better records of his career, though jazz purists would never agree. Produced and arranged by Bob James with a smoking cast that includes Joe Beck, Idris Muhammad, Richard Tee, and Bob Cranshaw, as well as a brass section of crack New York studio cats, Wildflower is the album Crawford had been trying to make since 1971. Recorded in two days, the band provides a slick, right, colorful platform for Crawford's melodic improvisation that is rooted in the art of the phrase. One long note held on "Mr. Blues" or a series of carefully articulated verbal feelings, such as on "Corazon," may not step out of the groove, but make it both a deeper blue and as wide as the human heart's complexity. On the title cut, with a vocal chorus in the background, Crawford turns a pop melody into a torrent of raw emotionalism and savvy groove-conscious glory. James' charts are big but never obtrusive; they point in one direction only, to bring that huge soul sound out of Crawford's alto – check out the way the melody line breaks down into the solo in Stevie Wonder's "You've Got It Bad Girl," or the backbeat arpeggio exercises in "Good Morning Heartache." This record is so hot the only soul-jazz it can be compared to in both its contemporary form and funky feel are Grover Washington's Feels So Good and Mister Magic issues. In other words, Crawford's Wildflower is indispensable as a shining example of '70s groove jazz at its best.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Corazon 6:02
Written-By – C. King
2    Wildflower 3:54
Written-By – D. Richardson, D. Edwards
3    Mr. Blues 6:05
Written-By – H. Crawford
4    You've Got It Bad Girl 9:34
Written-By – Y. Wright
5    Good Morning Heartache 6:08
Written-By – D. Fisher, E. Drake, I. Higginbothan
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Hank Crawford
Arranged By, Conductor – Bob James
Backing Vocals – Hilda Harris, Maeretha Stewart, Randy Peyton, Bill Eaton
Bass – Bob Cranshaw
Bass Trombone – Tony Studd
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
French Horn – Brooks Tillotson, Jim Buffington
Guitar – Joe Beck
Percussion – Arthur Jenkins, David Friedman, George Devans, Phil Kraus, Ralph MacDonald, Rubens Bassini
Piano, Organ – Richard Tee
Trombone – Paul Faulise, Wayne Andre
Trumpet – Alan Rubin, Bernie Glow, Marvin Stamm

HANK CRAWFORD - Indigo Blue (1983-1991) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Hank Crawford's Indigo Blue was released in August of 1983, less than a year after his excellent comeback set, Midnight Ramble, and proves that his renewed sense of creativity was no fluke. Here he teams once more with Dr. John on piano and organ and drummer Bernard Purdie. Melvin Sparks took over the guitar chair from Calvin Newborn, and Wilber Bascombe, Jr. holds down the rhythm section on bass. In addition, a horn section that includes David "Fathead" Newman, Danny Moore, Howard Johnson, and Martin Banks, arranged by Crawford, follows the same recipe as Midnight Ramble. The performances here are solid, truly impressive. Crawford plays sweet and slow as well as honking mean in getting at the root source of straight-ahead jazz and soul-jazz: the blues. And speaking of blues, the opener, "All Alone and Blue," is a barrelhouse of nasty guitar and organ work with Crawford's alto walking the bar while playing a mean solo. It's quite a changeup to open a set with -- but the only other thing you could do is close with it. This is followed by a gorgeous reading of Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You," all slow, deep, and refined with only Crawford's alto allowed to bring in the edges. But there are more surprises as Crawford and band tackle Willie Nelson's "Funny" and reveal both the blues and jazz roots in the tune. The swing between Dr. John and Sparks in the title track is truly canny, and Crawford's response in blowing shows it. This one is in the cut, and the groove is everywhere. The bittersweet ballad "Just for a Thrill" ends the set, with some of the sweetest and most lyrical piano and alto playing either man had done on a record until that time. Indigo Blue is a winner; it's hungry and elegant, sophisticated and swaggering. It's a trademark recording by Hank Crawford. by Thom Jurek 
Tracklist:
1 All Alone And Blue
2 The Very Thought Of You
3 Things Ain't What They Used To Be
4 Funny
5 Indigo Blue
6 Just For A Thrill
Credits:
Alto Saxophone, Electric Piano – Hank Crawford
Baritone Saxophone – Howard Johnson
Bass – Wilbur Bascomb
Drums – Bernard Purdie
Guitar – Melvin Sparks
Piano, Organ – Dr. John
Tenor Saxophone – David "Fathead" Newman

Trumpet – Danny Moore, Martin Banks

ESTHER PHILLIPS - From a Whisper to a Scream (1972-2007) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

One of Esther Phillips finest '70s releases, From a Whisper to a Scream is the first of seven albums the singer recorded for CTI offshoot Kudu. Arranged and conducted by Pee Wee Ellis, the December 1971 session also involved principal players such as bassist Gordon Edwards, drummer Bernard Purdie, percussionist Airto, guitarists Cornell Dupree and Eric Gale, keyboardist Richard Tee, and saxophonists Hank Crawford and David Liebman. Setting the tone for Phillips' Kudu era, Whisper offers a series of spacious, yet fully arranged ballads of burning heartache, along with a handful of relatively funky numbers that do nothing to compromise her talent, dishing out loads of classy grit. It's a definite point of departure from the likes of Esther Phillips Sings and And I Love Him, her field of contemporaries closer to Al Green and Aretha Franklin than before. She grabs onto "Home Is Where the Hatred Is," Gil Scott-Heron's most harrowing rumination on drug dependency -- which, at that point, wasn't even a year old -- as if it were her very own, and it's all the more poignant given its parallels with her own life. (Its meaning was only compounded by her death in 1984.) Though there is absolutely nothing lacking in the album's more energetic moments, it's still the ballads that shine brightest, like the alternately fragile and explosive "From a Whisper to a Scream" (Allen Toussaint) and a staggering "Baby, I'm for Real" (Marvin and Anna Gordy, made popular by the Originals) so vulnerable yet commanding that it really should've closed the album. by Andy Kellman   

SHIRLEY SCOTT - Shirley Scott & The Soul Saxes (1969-2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless