Urban Knights II

Urban Knights II
Studio album by
Urban Knights
ReleasedApril 8, 1997
Recorded1996
GenreJazz
Length49:50
LabelGRP
ProducerMaurice White
Urban Knights chronology
Urban Knights I
(1995) 		Urban Knights II
(1997) 		Urban Knights III
(2000)

Urban Knights II is the second studio album by the jazz group Urban Knights released in 1997 on GRP Records. The album reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and No. 24 on the UK Top Jazz Albums chart.[1][2][3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Jazz Times(favourable)[6]
Sun Herald(favourable)[7]

Jazz Times stated "With moods playful to passionate and players in a relaxed goodtime frame of mind, it’s a perfect party disc."[6] Don Adderton of the Sun Herald wrote "When you surround a master artist with a strong supporting cast, usually great things happen. On this second outing, Ramsey Lewis scores big on Urban Knights II (GRP)." Adderton added "Still the master craftsman, Lewis leads this all-star aggregation rampaging into funk, jazz, rhythm-and-blues and Latin-flavored ballads."[7] Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times found that "The music that results can perhaps best be described as rhythm & jazz--bits and pieces of improvising from Lewis and the horn players juxtaposed against insistent, funk-driven rhythms. South African Butler, especially on the tracks in which he sings (“South African Jam” and “Brazilian Rain,” especially), brings a seductive world-music ambience to the proceedings."[5] Jonathan Widran of Allmusic called the album a "Maurice White-produced exercise in easy funk and potent, machine generated urban grooves."[4]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Scirroco"Bill Meyers, Maurice White4:03
2."Get Up"Ramsey Lewis, Frayne Lewis, Kevin Randolph3:47
3."Come Dance with Me"Karen Boyd, Frayne Lewis, Kevin Randolph4:01
4."South African Jam"Jonathan Butler4:51
5."Brazilian Rain"Sonny Emory, Morris Pleasure4:19
6."Interlude #1"Ramsey Lewis0:35
7."Summer Nights"Bill Meyers, Jimi Randolph, Maurice White5:32
8."Tell Me Why"Jonathan Butler, Bill Meyers, Kevin Williams4:19
9."Urban Paradise"Ramsey Lewis, Frayne Lewis, Kevin Randolph4:23
10."Drama"James Cornwell, Kevin Guillaume3:47
11."Step by Step"Ramsey Lewis, Frayne Lewis, Kevin Randolph4:01
12."The Promise"Bill Meyers, Ross Vannelli, Maurice White4:10
13."Interlude #2"Ramsey Lewis2:02
14."Dawn"Kevin Randolph4:38

Charts

Chart performance for Urban Knights II
Chart (1997) Peak
position
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[8] 7
US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (Billboard)[2] 5
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) 48
UK Jazz Albums (Official Charts Company)[3] 24

Personnel

  • Gerald Albright – soprano saxophone
  • Najee – flute, saxophone, soprano saxophone
  • Frayne Lewis – keyboards
  • Ramsey Lewis – piano, electric piano
  • Mike Logan – keyboards
  • Bill Meyers – synthesizer, backing vocals, Fender Rhodes
  • Jimi Randolph – synthesizer
  • Kevin Randolph – keyboards, synthesizer bass
  • Jonathan Butler – guitar, vocals, backing vocals
  • Sheldon Reynolds – guitar, backing vocals
  • Morris Pleasure – bass
  • Chuck Webb – bass
  • Verdine White – bass
  • Sonny Emory – drums
  • Tony Carpenter – percussion
  • Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
  • Karen Boyd – backing vocals
  • Carl Carwell – backing vocals
  • Theresa Davis – backing vocals
  • Valerie Mayo – backing vocals
  • Maurice White – backing vocals

References

  1. ^ Urban Knights: Urban Knights II. GRP Records. 1997.
  2. ^ a b "Urban Knights: Urban Knights II (Top Contemporary Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Urban Knights - Urban Knights II". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Widran, Johnathan. "Urban Knights II". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  5. ^ a b Heckman, Don (May 25, 1997). "Smooth Sale-ing Ahead in the Contemporary Arena". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ a b "Urban Knights: Urban Knights II". jazztimes.com. Jazz Times. September 12, 1997.
  7. ^ a b Adderton, Don (May 16, 1997). "AZIMUTH TAKES ADVANTAGE OF VOCALS". newsbank.com. Sun Herald.
  8. ^ "Urban Knights: Jazz Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.