Hank Crawford & Calvin Newborne ”Centerpiece”

Hank Crawford & Calvin Newborne

”Centerpiece”
( LP Buddah Records, 1978/1980 )
Catalog # BDS 5730

Tracklisting:
A1 Centerpiece (5:11)
Written-By – Harry Edison , Jon Hendricks
A2 Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good To You (9:41)
Written-By – Andy Razaf , Don Redman
A3 Breezin’ (3:54)
Written-By – Bobby Womack
B1 I Had A Dream (6:28)
Written-By – Hubert Laws
B2 I Can’t Stand It (6:29)
Written-By – Hank Crawford
B3 Frame For The Blues (7:08)
Written-By – “Slide” Hampton

Personnel & Credits:
Arranged By [Strings], Performer [Strings] – Mario E. Sprouse
Bass [Electric] – Charles “Flip” Greene
Drums – Billy Kaye
Electric Piano [Rhodes], Saxophone [Alto] – Hank Crawford
Engineer – Llew Horowitz
Engineer [Assistant] – Barry Magaliff , Murray Greenblatt , Ted Brosnan
Guitar [Electric] – Calvin Newborne
Mastered By – Vladimir Meller
Percussion – Errol “Crusher” Bennett
Producer, Arranged By, Conductor – Hank Crawford
Saxophone [Baritone] – Howard Johnson
Saxophone [Tenor] – Alex Foster
Trombone – Janice Robinson
Trumpet – Joseph J. Shepley, Michael Lawrence
Vibraphone – Warren Chiasson

Notes:
Recorded October, November 1978 at Columbia Recording Studios, New York City.
1980, Versatile Records, Ltd. Under license to Buddah Records, Inc. Distributed by Arista Records, Inc. 6 West 57 Street, New York, New York 10019. Printed in USA.
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1980

Review:
This little-known Hank Crawford LP was a transitional record between his long associations with Kudu and Milestone. More straightahead than his Kudu dates, the program is highlighted by the Harry “Sweets” Edison blues “Centerpiece,” “Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You” and Slide Hampton’s “Frame for the Blues.” In addition to Crawford (who splits his time between his soulful alto and a Fender Rhodes electric piano), guitarist Calvin Newborne (the brother of pianist Phineas) has plenty of solo space. Crawford provided the arrangements for a five-piece horn section and the results are soulful and pleasing.
By Scott Yanow (AMG)

By Pier