Joe Sample - In All My Wildest Dreams
Joe Sample - In All My Wildest Dreams
Tupac - Dear Mama
New friend Humu brought this Oakland living thing full circle this
weekend by blessing me with a ticket(thanks!) to Joe Sample’s last show
at Yoshi’s Jazz Club on Sunday. Joe Sample is the former band leaser of
the The Jazz Crusaders, who eventually became just The Crusaders. He’s
also worked with a number of other artists, such as Randy Crwaford and
Minnie Riperton, and has enjoyed a successful solo career. On Sunday he
played in a three piece band, with his son on bass, and a drummer
(whose name escapes me - my bad). The range of styles that Joe
exhibited really impressed me; he jumped effortlessly from bluesy
numbers, to funk cuts, and straight back into classical jazz. He also
engaged the audience by entertaining us with funny anecdotes from his
childhood in Western Louisiana and Texas, his experiences with Voodoo,
and life in San Francisco in the 1960’s. Each story had some kind of
relevance to the number he was about to play, which helped me
understand the feeling and tone of where he was coming from. I wish
musicians would do this more often. Unfortunately there wasn’t a
guitarist up there on stage with him, so I couldn’t request “In My
Wildest Dreams” a great track from his “Rainbow Seeker” album, which
you might recognize from Oakland’s own, Tupac.