Joe Sample - Rainbow Seeker (1978)/Carmel (1979)/Voices In The Rain (1981)

UK Import

Three albums on 2 CDs from the Robinsongs imprint of Cherry Red Records. This compilation was released in 2021 and it is prime Sample. Considering Sample was putting out these fine solo albums around the time The Crusaders were releasing their best albums (e.g., Free As The Wind, Street Life) is absolutely mind-blowing. Recommended.

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RAINBOW SEEKER (1978)
8 tracks, 44 minutes

Not his first album apart from The Crusaders, but it probably counts as his first solo release. Eight Sample originals performed with the help of a couple of Crusaders: Pops Popwell on bass and Stix Hooper on drums. Also some top studio help from Ernie Watts, Ray Parker, Jr., Dean Parks, and Paulinho De Costa. It's lightly funky and uses a few timely disco tropes but doesn't rely much on them. I wish someone had played this for me in '78 - the timing was right as I was just discovering smooth jazz/instrumental pop around that time.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "range from light and sassy to funky and reflective"
• CashBox: "all the cuts are exemplary"
• High Fidelity: "Much of this is attractive, above-average stuff"
• Record World: "lilting jazz album that shows off his talents to the fullest."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #62
• Billboard Jazz: #3
• CashBox: #60
• CashBox Jazz: #2

Tracks: Nothing to skip here. In All My Wildest Dreams has gone on to be widely sampled. Track 4, the mid-tempo Melodies Of Love, was the single and Sample glides effortlessly between piano and Fender Rhodes over a lush bed of strings. The album ends with a beautiful solo piano ballad, Together We'll Find A Way.

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CARMEL (1979)
7 tracks, 40 minutes

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by this CD set.

The first Sample solo album I heard, so probably my favorite. Most tracks have a bit of a Latin flavor. Very little Fender Rhodes, Sample displays his unique style of "showing off without showing off" on acoustic piano. Joined again by Hooper, Parks, and De Costa. Also on board are flautist Hubert Laws and Abraham Laboriel on bass.

On a marginally related note, my wife and I visited Carmel back in March of 1992 and found it, as well as the entire Monterey Peninsula, to be quite breathtaking. Would love to return to the lovely 17-Mile Drive and the Hog's Breath Inn with this album playing.

Your humble blogger walking off
the 18th green at Pebble Beach.
Carmel is on the left.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "quite appealing"
• CashBox: "a romantic tribute to this coastal paradise"
• Record World: "playing owes more to mainstream jazz than fusion music"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #56
• Billboard Jazz: #1
• Billboard R&B: #25
• CashBox: #58
• CashBox Jazz: #1
• Rolling Stone: #26

Tracks: I enjoy all seven, but my favorite is the samba-ish title track followed by Paintings and A Rainy Day In Monterey.

The first six of the seven album cuts are on the first CD with the remaining track - More Beautiful Each Day - leading off the second CD before moving on to...

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VOICES IN THE RAIN (1981)
7 tracks, 41 minutes

Note: this release was originally purchased as a iTunes download, later replaced by this CD set.

Slightly different from the other two albums here in that there is an increased use of synths (it was 1981, after all, so to be expected) and there's a couple of vocal tracks. Not a bad album by any means, but it doesn't quite measure up to the previous two.

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "another brilliant, light jazz fusion outing"
• Billboard: "keyboard wizardry in varying moods"
• Stereo Review: "everything tumbles down in confusion"
• Record World: "Another glossy package of tasteful pop-jazz"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #65
• Billboard Jazz: #2
• Billboard R&B: #29
• CashBox: #70
• CashBox Jazz: #2
• Rolling Stone: #39

Tracks: One of the vocal tracks, Burning Up The Carnival, with vocals by Josie James, is quite tasty and my favorite track on the album. Of the instrumental tracks, my picks are Greener Grass and Dream Of Dreams.

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The CD set ends with three bonus tracks, the single edits of Melodies Of Love (from Rainbow Seeker), plus Burning Up The Carnival and Dream Of Dreams (from Voices In The Rain).

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Previously revisited for the blog:
The Best of Joe Sample (1998)

The Best of Joe Sample (1998)

A compilation of keyboardist Joe Sample's work on the Warner Bros. label between the years 1989-1997 that I purchased from a CD Exchange back in '08. I prefer his earlier solo work, but there's still plenty of good stuff here. It's safe, characteristic jazz fusion from the '90s with quality collaborators: Tommy LiPuma, George Duke, Steve Gadd, Marcus Miller, and, of course, Randy Crawford. What sets this music apart from other smooth jazz releases of the time (other than Sample's fantastic technique) is its reliance on real instruments with real players; very little sequencing and no drum machines. I particularly like the way Sample handles the Rhodes piano.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: nothing here requires active listening, but there's nothing worth skipping. Top tracks include Viva De Funk, Spellbound, and the 1997 remake of Street Life, this time without vocals from Randy Crawford.

Song	Album	Year
Viva De Funk	Did You Feel That	1994
Chain Reaction	Sample This	1997
Hippies On A Corner	Old Places Old Faces	1996
Seven Years Of Good Luck	Spellbound	1989
Ashes To Ashes	Ashes To Ashes	1990
Mystery Child	Did You Feel That	1994
Spellbound	Spellbound	1990
The Road Less Traveled	Ashes To Ashes	1990
Summertime	Invitation	1993
Black And White	Old Places Old Faces	1996
Street Life	Sample This	1997

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None