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Wilton Felder

Wilton Felder is well known to jazz fans as the saxophonist and composer who spent some thirty years playing, along with Joe Sample, Stix Hooper, and Wayne Henderson in the phenomenally successful Crusaders. The group’s combination of jazz, soul, r&b, and gospel influences created a sound that was rooted in jazz, but which was accessible to listeners raised on pop and rock music.

Unlike many fusion bands, The Crusaders never lost their blues and soul roots, which was one key to their success. Another was the fact that each musician had a definite style on their instrument, and it was a pleasure to listen to each of them play. Felder’s deep, sonorous tenor sound is rooted in the Texas tenor sax tradition, and it is very easy to listen to, largely because it retains an element of soul grit and refuses to be too pretty, even when the surroundings are very smooth

The Crusaders met in Houston while still at high school. Felder studied music at Texas Southern University. The group moved to Los Angeles in the late fifties and there became the nucleus of The Jazz Crusaders, the band who pioneered jazz fusion for an entire listening generation. In a golden age that spanned 1971 through to 1990 they recorded, both as a group and as individuals, more than seventy five top selling albums and will perhaps be best remembered for the classic ‘Street Life’ that featured Randy Crawford. Felder was one of the in-house bass players for Motown Records.

Wilton Felder: Let's Spend Some Time

Read "Let's Spend Some Time" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
June 22, 2006

Wilton Felder, a founding member of the legendary Jazz Crusaders, presents his trademark smooth jazz sounds with a satisfyingly funky touch and laid-back soulfulness on Let's Spend Some Time.The arrangements--not always a strong element in smooth jazz outings--have a particularly fine quality, an intermingling of sax/trumpet, synth and loops. The first two cuts, “Smoke House" and the title cut, as well as “Ooh Wop, Doo Wop" and “High Water," have the crisp jazz funk feeling of the late-Miles ...

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Album Review

The Jazz Crusaders: The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions

Read "The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions" reviewed by George Harris

by George Harris
April 5, 2006

If songs like “Scratch" come to mind when you think of the Jazz Crusaders, you are in for a real treat with this six-CD set. Originally including “jazz" in their moniker, Wayne Henderson (trombone), Wilton Felder (tenor), Joe Sample (piano) and Stix Hooper (drums) put together a collection of studio recordings that offers a pleasant surprise for mainstream jazz fans. This rocking set reveals the origins and many directions this multifaceted band took during the musically tumultuous '60s.

Listening to ...

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Album Review

Jazz Crusaders: The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions

Read "The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan

by C. Andrew Hovan
November 7, 2005

You would think that in this day and age of compact disc reissues and with many years of activity under our belts that just about everything worthy of release has at one time or another made it to the stores. But even though jazz stands in good steed these days in terms of the availability of classic music, there still exists small pockets of music that have somehow eluded us and that is where this set falls. And when a ...

Obituary

Legendary Crusaders Sax Man Wilton Felder Passes Away

Source: Michael Ricci
September 28, 2015

Houston and the world lost a giant today with the passing of Wilton Felder, saxophonist for the fabled Crusaders. Mr. Felder was 75. Word of his passing reached the internet via longtime collaborator Ray Parker, Jr.’s Facebook page around 2 p.m. today. Felder’s passing comes only a year after the death of his lifelong friend and fellow Crusader Joe Sample. Crusaders trombonist Wayne Henderson died in April, 2014, which now leaves drummer Nesbert “Stix” Hooper as the only living Crusader ...
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