Washington, Grover Jr.

Washington, Grover Jr., pop-jazz tenor, alto, soprano saxophonist; b. Buffalo, N.Y., Dec. 12, 1943; d. N.Y., Dec. 17, 1999. Washington’s father was a tenor saxophonist and his mother sang in the church choir. Washington began saxophone when he was ten, and then left school when he was 16 to tour with the R&B group The Four Clefs (originally from Columbus, Ohio). He remained with the group until they disbanded in 1963, and then worked briefly with organist Keith McAllister before enlisting in the Army. He played in the Fort Dix (N.J.) 19th Army Band, while continuing to moonlight as a jazz player. After discharge from the Army, he returned to playing funk-jazz with Don Gardener’s Sonotones (1967-68) and then jazz-funk organists Charles Earland and Johnny Hammond. In 1971, he scored a huge pop hit when he recorded “Inner City Blues” for Creed Taylor’s CTI label. Through the mid-1970s and early 1980s, he produced a string of soft-jazz hits. Signed to Motown, he released the hit LP Mister Magic (1975) and the self-produced Reed Seed in 1978, but despite the relative success of the record, he was unhappy at the label. Although still contractualy obliged to issue alternate releases through Motown, he signed to Elektra and realized even greater commercial success. His album Winelight (1981), a mixture of soul, jazz, and pop, sold over two million copies and won two Grammys. It included the single “Just the Two of Us,” featuring Bill Withers on vocals, which shot to #2 on the U.S. chart. However, Washington was unable to equal this enormous success, and during the later 1980s and 1990s mixed his work in pop- funk-jazz with returns to more mainstream playing. Washington lived in Philadelphia from the mid-1960s until his death in 1999, and was active on the local scene. He died of an apparent heart attack after taping some songs for an early morning television appearance.

Discography

Inner City Blues (1971); Feels So Good (1975); Mister Magic (1975); Winelight (1981); Baddest (1981); In Concert (Video) (1981); Then and Now (1988); Time Out of Mind (1989); “Love Like This” (1992); All My Tomorrows (1994).

—Music Master Jazz and Blues Catalogue/Lewis Porter