Admittedly kinda late to the party, but wanted to weigh in on this. I understand completely what @frogman is getting at; and for the record, I would call what's in @orpheus10 's Hank Crawford youtube post some form of soul jazz. No doubt, Hank was one of the best.
Also agree with observation about his influence on David Sanborn, although I never really thought about it that way. I caught Sanborn a few years back at Yoshi's San Francisco, and if I remember correctly, he gave homage to Maceo. My wife really likes him. We also saw Gerald Albright at the same venue, as he is one of her favorite artists (good show, BTW). You get the idea. At any rate, this seems to be a discussion about derivations on a theme ... whether it's jazz-funk, smooth jazz, new jazz, or soul jazz for that matter. To me, there's jazz and then there is everything else. With all due respect, label it what you will, but please don't call it jazz. I mean no disrespect to any of the regulars on this thread. So please forgive me if that appears a little strong.
I have been incredibly blessed to have seen/heard many of the greats in this genre - from Adderley to Zawinul. One of my very early and fondest memories was being in the audience in '71 at a concert featuring Roland Kirk, Gerald Wilson, and Lee Morgan. Along the way there's been a sampling of so-called "smooth jazz" (which I enjoy) and soul jazz, like the stuff that CTI was putting out in the 70's and 80's. When I went to those clubs/shows to see/hear Hank Crawford, George Benson (when he first started singing), Stanley Turentine, Grover Washington, Esther Phillips, Johnny Hammond, and Lonnie Smith ... it was mostly because the women I dated at the time liked "new" jazz, but they didn't care for real jazz.
What always struck me were those times when Grover, George, or Stanley played some of their old stuff - "straight ahead" jazz ...
I was really diggin' it. Then the crowd would grow restless and bored. But they came alive as soon as there was something you could clap to or snap your fingers. It was during those times that I came to realize that many of those artists played that type of music because it was generally more popular and therefore, more profitable. Think of the transitions Wes Montgomery and Bird made, playing popular music with strings in order to make a living.
As far as I can tell, so very few ever had much commercial success playing straight ahead jazz.
Other than Miles or perhaps Herbie, I can't think of any. That is really a shame. Over the years, many Bay Area jazz-only clubs came and went ... like Kimball's, Keystone Korner, Jazz Workshop, El Matador, Mandrakes, The Both/And; and these all came well after the Black Hawk. I loved those places. Now Yoshi's SF is the latest casualty. They featured a mix of folks like Branford, Roy Hargrove, Terence Blanchard, as well as the Yellow Jackets and Spyro Gyra. But it's hard to remain commercially viable when Diana Krall is the only artist to sell out the place.
Well, I guess that's it. I'm pretty well "ranted out". Thanks for your time; and again, pardon me for hijacking the thread and going off on a bit of a tangent. I'll go back to the sidelines now and take in the commentary. You guys keep on doing what you're doing. It's much appreciated. Happy Listening!
