Moving away from the blues for a moment: The 70s aren’t remembered for jazz, but I was listening to a mix this morning, and there was some great stuff that crossed over to the pop charts. Tower of Power, Roberta Flack, Grover Washington Jr., George Benson, Chuck Mangione. Forget disco. This was a golden age for jazz.
This song was my first exposure. Before, I thought jazz was a bunch of brass instruments blaring with no harmony. How could this be jazz?
UPDATE: On the day I posted this, Tower of Power drummer Dave Garibaldi and bassist Marc Van Wageningen were hit by a train in Oakland. Thankfully, the injuries weren’t serious. News stories describe TOP as a funk/R&B or funk/rock band. Do they belong on this list? They’ve always seemed more like a jazz band to me.
