A New Destination, Still Worth the Trip

Thirty-five years is a long time to hold a grudge. In 1971, the Jazz Crusaders became the Crusaders, and most of us jazz “purists” never quite forgave them. In their “jazz” period, the Crusaders were a hard bop band with a pop sensibility that played memorable originals as well as intelligent arrangements of familiar songs. After nearly 20 albums as “the Jazz Crusaders,” the four key members of the band — the pianist Joe Sample, the tenor saxist Wilton Felder, the trombonist Wayne Henderson, and the drummer Styx Hooper — switched to an electric rhythm section with keyboards, Fender bass, and electric guitar. They began playing a lot less jazz — hence the dropping of the word from their name — and a lot more funk and pop.