AMG Review of Crusaders' Finest Hour

Al Campbell
All Music Guide

After a career that spanned the '60s with a number of releases on Pacific Jazz records as the Jazz Crusaders, the beginning of the '70s found the band dropping the jazz moniker from their name and moving toward the more commercially accessible pop/R&B crossover audience. These nine selections are taken from seven albums originally released on the Blue Thumb and MCA labels recorded between 1971 and 1979 with a live cut featuring B.B. King from 1981. The Crusaders have a lot of material still available featuring both incarnations with this compilation containing a worthy sample from the second half of their career. For a closer inspection of the earlier Jazz Crusaders, seek out Live at the Lighthouse 66 on Pacific Jazz.