''Urban Knights II'' is an album by the
Urban Knights which was issued in 1997 on
GRP Records
GRP® Records (Grusin-Rosen Productions) is a jazz record label founded by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen (producer), Larry Rosen in 1978. Distributed by Verve Records, GRP® was originally known for its digital recordings that focuses on its jazz ...
. The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart.
Critical reception
Jazz Times
''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store.
Coverage
After a decade of growth ...
stated "With moods playful to passionate and players in a relaxed goodtime frame of mind, it’s a perfect party disc."
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."
Don Heckman of the
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
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
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
, especially on the tracks in which he sings (“South African Jam” and “Brazilian Rain,” especially), brings a seductive world-music ambience to the proceedings."
Jonathan Widran of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
called the album a "Maurice White-produced exercise in easy funk and potent, machine generated urban grooves."
Track listing
# "Scirroco" (Meyers, White) – 4:03
# "Get Up" (Lewis, Lewis, Randolph) – 3:47
# "Come Dance with Me" (Boyd, Lewis, Randolph) – 4:01
# "South African Jam" (Butler) – 4:51
# "Brazilian Rain" (Emory, Pleasure) – 4:19
# "Interlude #1" (Lewis) – 0:35
# "Summer Nights" (Meyers, Randolph, White) – 5:32
# "Tell Me Why" (Butler, Meyers, Williams) – 4:19
# "Urban Paradise" (Lewis, Lewis, Randolph) – 4:23
# "Drama" (Cornwell, Guillaume, Hawkins, Jones) – 3:47
# "Step by Step" (Lewis, Lewis, Randolph) – 4:01
# "The Promise" (Meyers, Vannelli, White) – 4:10
# "Interlude #2" (Lewis) – 2:02
# "Dawn" (Randolph) – 4:38
Charts
Personnel
*
Gerald Albright
Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009.
Biography
Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...
– 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
Morris "Mo" Joseph Pleasure (born July 12, 1962) is an American composer, singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Pleasure is a former member of the band Earth, Wind & Fire and he's the current musical director of Bette Midler. Pleasure has ...
– bass
* Chuck Webb – bass
*
Verdine White
Verdine Adams White (born July 25, 1951) is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist for the band Earth, Wind & Fire. White was placed at No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time.
Early lif ...
– 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
Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...
– backing vocals
References
{{Authority control
1997 albums
Albums produced by Maurice White
Urban Knights albums
GRP Records albums