The total CTI/Motown reissued recordings of saxophonist
Grover Washington, Jr. will always be remembered by his fans, but to the general public he will be lionized solely for his disco hit "Mr. Magic." At least the full, unedited nine-minute version of that tune is here. That
Washington did many other sessions apart from this '70s period music is something we should be reminded of. A mere five tracks clocking in at about 35 minutes on this single CD does not do him justice, nor all of the music he did, both as a leader and sideman, for the
Creed Taylor produced label. Hopefully, listeners will explore his legitimate soul-jazz pre-"Mr. Magic" contributions, his occasional foray into hard bop, as well as his attempts to play non-commercialized music before his untimely passing. ~ Michael G. Nastos