Crawford was born in Memphis and took up the piano aged
nine, soon playing for his church choir. He began playing an alto saxophone his
father had brought back from military service so that he could join the
Manassas high school marching band, and later to play as an accompanist to King
and others. These were the days in which Crawford and his fellow saxophonists
would often find themselves walking bar-tops playing, or lying on their backs
while the punters threw coins into the saxophone's bell.
In 1953 he moved to Nashville to study music theory at
Tennessee State College, joining college jazz groups and also leading a
rock'n'roll band, Little Hank and the Rhythm Kings. It was the alto-playing
Crawford's resemblance to the celebrated Memphis saxophonist Hank O'Day that
earned him his nickname.
A Nashville visit from Charles in 1958 led to the
24-year-old Crawford replacing Cooper as the band's baritone saxophonist, and
when Cooper returned a year later, the new recruit reverted to the alto. By
1961, his rich early experiences and his formal studies had combined to help
him become Charles's musical director as the increasingly popular singer
expanded his touring ensemble to a jazzy big band. Crawford later said that the
Charles band was like a classroom for him, and that he learned at least as much
as he imparted from the experience.
As he had done with Newman, Charles encouraged his
eloquent employee to forge a solo career. Crawford recorded extensively for
Atlantic in the 1960s, often with Newman on board - his debut, The Art of Hank
Crawford (1960), featured fellow musicians drawn from the Charles contingent -
and his sophisticated ear for gospelly "sax-choir" harmonies gave new
twists to what could have been formulaic music. Crawford's groups also
maintained commercially attractive connections with the Charles sound, and the
saxophonist's writing skills brought him chart hits too, such as Misty (1961)
and Skunky Green (1964).
For all his awareness of 1950s modern jazz, Crawford's
sound was rooted in the R&B tradition. His models were the jive-saxophonist
Louis Jordan and the technically advanced and commercially successful 1940s
altoist Earl Bostic - though he always credited Charlie Parker as a significant
influence, and Duke Ellington's alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges.
Favouring quivering long sounds, emotion-charged vibrato
effects, holy-rolling repeating motifs and yearning high notes, Crawford kept
the church and blues traditions of his Memphis childhood coursing through his
veins, and sounded as much like a vocalist as a saxophonist throughout his
working life. He had played with local blues heroes including BB King, Bobby
Bland and Junior Parker when he was still in high school, but had also grown up
with Phineas Newborn Jr, Booker Little and George Coleman, all of whom were to
become leading lights in the bebop-driven but distinctly churchy hard-bop style
of the late 1950s and early 60s.
Crawford left Charles in 1963 but had recorded a dozen
albums of his own for Atlantic by 1970, followed by eight commercially angled
cover albums for Creed Taylor's Kudu. Arrival at the jazz-oriented Milestone
company in 1983 allowed him to return to his own muse. His output for the label
mixed strong originals with undemanding, easygoing funk, but guests, including
Dr John, frequently lifted the temperature.
Through the 1980s and into the 90s, Crawford was also a
first-choice guest in high-profile jazz, blues, soul and R&B bands of all
kinds, led by Dr John, Eric Clapton, Etta James, King and the Hammond organist
Jimmy McGriff. Like Newman, Crawford's contribution to the development of jazz
and R&B melody has been immense, but camouflaged. The Atlantic boss Joel
Dorn once wrote: "If musicians had to pay royalties for using someone
else's sound the way they have to for recording someone else's songs, David and
Hank would be billionaires."
Hank Crawford died
January 29, 2009 (aged 74) at his home in Memphis, Tenn. He had been in
declining health for much of the past year with complications from a stroke in
2000.
(Info compiled and edited mainly from John Fordham’s
article in The Guardian)
2 comments:
Here's two of many albums of hank Crawford available on music blogs.
For “Hank Crawford - Help Me Make It Through The Night (1972)” go here;
http://www58.zippyshare.com/v/LcYD1rYx/file.html
01. Help Me Make It Through The Night
02. Brian's Song
03. Uncle Funky
04. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
05. Go Away Little Girl
06. Imagine
07. Ham
08. The Sun Died
Hank Crawford (Alto saxophone); Cornell Dupree (Solo guitar); Richard Tee (Organ & piano); Ron Carter (Bass); Bernard Purdie (Drums); Phil Kraus (Vibes); Margaret Ross (Harp); Charles McCracken & George Ricci (Celli); Alfred Brown, Emanuel Vardi & Theodore Israel (Violas); Bernard Eichen, Elliot Rosoff, Emanuel Green, Felix Giglio, Gene Orloff, Harold Kohon, Harry Lookofsky, Joe Malin & Max Pollikoff (Violins); Eric Gale (Guitar); Airto Moreira (Percussion); Grover Washington Jr. (Tenor saxophone); Pepper Adams (Baritone saxophone); Al DeRisi & Snooky Young (Trumpets); Wayne Andre (Trombone); Idris Muhammad (Drums).
A big thank you to Ketmokin @ La Musica de Pere blog for active link
For “Hank Crawford - Double Cross 1967” go here:
http://www33.zippyshare.com/v/MJAJKyan/file.html
1. "Double Cross" - 3:19
2. "Jimmy Mack" (Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland) - 2:36
3. "Glue Fingers" - 3:27
4. "I Can't Stand It" - 4:45
5. "In the Heat of the Night" (Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Quincy Jones) - 4:03
6. "The Second Time Around" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) - 3:52
7. "Mud Island Blues" - 5:56
8. "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)" (Jimmie Hodges) - 3:50
Double Cross is the ninth album led by saxophonist Hank Crawford featuring performances recorded in 1965 and 1967 for the Atlantic label. A big thank you to Musicology blog for active link
Thank you!
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