Customer Reviews

Urban Knights

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A friend of mine told me about this group with Ramsey Lewis, Grover Washington Jr., Omar Hakim, with Maurice White producing the album. I ran to the store and purchased Urban Knights immediately. I was not dissapointed. From the first record to the last, the album is great. What makes a great album? Chemistry! These musician never crowd each other. Omar Hakim is the greatest drummer on earth, hands down. Grover is so smooth he almost took over the album. This album is balanced with Grover like grooves and mellow Ramsey Lewis tunes. I love this album, it will only go up in value in the future.

....what can I say? This is 90s type smooth-jazz done by legends Ramsey Lewis, Grover Washington, Omar Hakim. Maurice White gets production credit to a team that probably did not require "producing" per se, but, why not make it a more legendary team with him on board, I ask ya? In fact, it is his tunes on this that I prefer--"Wanna Be With You" with vocals by the great Emotions and "The Rose" which sounds like could have been one of the tunes that the mega-group he was head of was gonna do--with those vocal "ba-ba-ba-de-yays" and all. All three Urban Knight CDs are good, but this is, in my humble opinion, the best. Get it, now....

This CD by the Urban Knights released in 1995 is one of my favorites by them. The line-up features Ramsey Lewis, Grover Washington, Jr., Omar Hakim, and Victor Bailey. It's jazzy, bluesy, and more. The opening track On The Radio is a nice song, but the CD gets better than this. Wanna Be With You features some vocals by The Emotions, and some fine sax playing by GWJR. Chill is a funky, acid-jazz style song. Although, I don't personally care for this type of music. It is well-done. Hearts Of Longing is one of my favorite songs on this CD. It's just plain, mellow, smooth jazz. Friendship is a lively song featuring some great keyboards and horn playing. I absolutely love this song!!! Miracle is a beautiful song with some nice vocals. The Rose is another smooth jazz style song with some nice sax playing by GWJR and some scat-style vocals. Urban Samba...well, the title to this one tells it all. Forever More features Mike Logan on vocals. What a beautiful song!!! The final track is Senega it is a Latin-style song that is kind of reminds me of Spyro Gyra. Urban Knights are clearly and overlooked super group!!! If you don't have any of there music here is the place to start! Enjoy!!!!

I always wondered in the back of my mind if Ramsey Lewis was trying to capitalize on the success of Fourplay? If he was, he did a great job bringing the talents of Grover Washington, Jr. and company together. My favorite tracks are "Hearts of Longing" and "The Rose". I could listen to it all night long!! Well Recommended!!

How can you not like "Forever More" and the others? Anyone with a pulse can not only enjoy but feel the emotion coming from each song....simply outstanding.....a thinker's cd.

Urban Knights was one of a few jazz supergroups that emerged in the early to mid-nineties. Fourplay was another but while the latter group has managed to sustain the quality of their music, in my view, this original 1995 Urban Kights CD is the only one really worth buying. It has the original lineup of Ramsey Lewis on keyboards, Grover Washington, Jr on saxophones, Omar Hakim on drums and Victor Bailey on electric bass. The project was produced by Earth Wind and Fire man, Maurice White.

"On The Radio" was the first tune off the album I heard (on the radio, as it happened) and I knew this was something special. A lot of thought was put into this album and though some of the tracks veer dangerously close to r&b/hip-hop crossover "smooth jazz" territory (the rapping on "Chill" does nothing for me), there are also some very strong performances here. Personal favourites include "On The Radio", "Hearts Of Longing", "The Rose" and "Forever More", though "Wanna Be With You" (with vocals by the Emotions) and "Miracle" (with vocals by Omar Hakim) are not far behind. A project of noble intent and gratifying result. It's very sad that Washington didn't take part in any further projects, sadder still that he passed away in 1999. I've listened to all the subsequent Urban Knights albums and actually bought "Urban Knights II", but I couldn't take anymore after that. This one was the first and in my opinion, it's still the best.

Every so often, I listen to music that has been in my library for some time. I think this CD existed before Amazon! This is one of those CDs. So many tunes are truly "smooth." Any owner of Fourplay's music would love this. And, if you get this one, be sure to get Urban Knights 2!

THIS CD WAS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES THE FIRST TIME I POPPED IT IN. THIS CD WILL MAKE THOSE WHO DONT LIKE JAZZ LEARN TO LOVE IT. THE STYLES THAT ARE DISPLAYED ON THIS CD WILL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO DANCE,FAST OR SLOW,SIT BY THE FIRE PLACE AND CHILL OR MOTIVATE YOU TO WORK AT A FAST PACE THIS CD HAS IT ALL

This is my favorite Urban Knights cd. Sit back and enjoy the music-Hearts of Longing is my favorite track. The entire cd is good, you don't have to worry about switching to the next track, just put it in and savor.

I was introduced to this cd over a decade ago and my appreciation for it has only increased as time has gone by. While the grouping of established performers for a "one time" collaboration can hardly be called original I think this cd may represent one of the finest of such collaborations ever made. From upbeat selections, such as `Urban Samba' & `Chill', to smooth selections, such as 'Forever More' & 'Hearts of Longing', this cd never misses a beat. I commend Ramsey Lewis for taking the initiative to bring such a cd about. While I have no way of really knowing and my observation may be considered, by some, as naïve, I think the performers really had fun combining their talents and that this cd was more about the music than any individual recognition or salary.

I so enjoy this album that I recommend it to everyone I know who has an interest in jazz. I've also obtained the four immediate Urban Knights sequels. While they are all good, especially Urban Knights II, I just don't get the same vibe or satisfaction that I do from the original. It's almost as if the follow up albums are "trying" to hard to equal or out perform the original. Perhaps they just seem a little to formula inspired. Whatever the reason they just don't live up to the original.

One last thing, while this cd, as mentioned above, varies in its upbeat and smooth selections it begins and ends with upbeat selections. By beginning with `On the Radio' and ending with `Senegal' I feel that listeners will begin and end their listening experience with a positve feeling.