Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Lou Rawls, who possessed an unmistakable baritone voice, died Jan. 6 after battling lung cancer. He was 72.
While Rawls’ is best known for his array of pop hits (“Love Is A Hurting Thing” and “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”), the Chicago-born singer also frequently delved into jazz and drew on the music’s improvisational spirit for his lengthy, and influential, spoken-word monologues.
The gospel-trained Rawls recorded his first solo album, Stormy Monday, with the Les McCann Trio in 1962. A few years later, the singer was the voice on many of producer David Axelrod’s early innovations in fusion. Two of those tracks were recently compiled on David Axelrod – The Edge: David Axelrod At Capitol Records 1966-1970 (Blue Note). In 2003, he paid tribute to a notable jazz singer on his disc Rawls Sings Sinatra (Savoy Jazz).
“I don’t put myself in any particular category,” Rawls once said. “Whatever the occasion calls for, I rise to the occasion. There are no limits to music, so why should I limit myself?”
Aaron Cohen
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
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