Joe Sample facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joe Sample
Sample in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Leslie Sample
Born	(1939-02-01)February 1, 1939 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Died	September 12, 2014(2014-09-12) (aged 75) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, composer
Instruments	Keyboards
Years active	1950s–2014
Labels	Blue Thumb, MCA, GRP, Warner Bros., Verve, ABC
Associated acts	Jazz Crusaders, Steely Dan, Michael Franks, Lalah Hathaway, India.Arie

Joseph Leslie Sample (born February 1, 1939 – died September 12, 2014) was an amazing American keyboard player and music maker. He helped start a famous band called The Jazz Crusaders in 1960. Later, in 1971, they changed their name to "The Crusaders."

Joe Sample stayed with the group until their last album in 1991. He also had a very successful solo career starting in the late 1960s. He played on many recordings for other famous artists too. Joe Sample mixed different music styles like gospel, blues, jazz, Latin, and classical into his unique sound.

About Joe Sample's Life

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Joe Sample was born in Houston, Texas. He was the youngest child of Alexander and Agatha Sample. Joe started playing the piano when he was just five years old. He learned a lot from his piano teacher, T. Curtis Mayo.

In the 1950s, when he was in high school, Joe formed a band called the Swingsters. He played with his friends, saxophonist Wilton Felder and drummer "Stix" Hooper.

Forming The Jazz Crusaders

While studying piano at Texas Southern University, Joe met trombonist Wayne Henderson. They added more players to the Swingsters. The band then became the Modern Jazz Sextet. After that, they changed their name to the Jazz Crusaders. They wanted to be like Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, another great jazz band.

Joe Sample did not finish his degree at the university. Instead, in 1960, he and the Jazz Crusaders moved from Houston to Los Angeles.

Success on the West Coast

The band quickly found chances to play music in Los Angeles. They made their first album, Freedom Sound, in 1961. For much of the 1960s, they released up to four albums every year!

The Jazz Crusaders first played in a style called hard bop. They were special because they used a saxophone (played by Wilton Felder) and a trombone (played by Wayne Henderson) together. Joe Sample's piano playing was also very special. It was funky and catchy. He helped the band mix jazz with soul in the late 1960s. The Jazz Crusaders became a very popular band for concerts during those years.

Solo Career and Studio Work

While Joe and his bandmates kept working together, they also did their own projects. In 1969, Joe Sample made his first album just by himself. It was called Fancy Dance. On this album, Joe played piano as part of a jazz trio.

In the 1970s, the Jazz Crusaders became simply "the Crusaders." They started playing more popular music. Joe Sample became well-known as a studio musician in Los Angeles. This means he played on recordings for many other artists. Some of these included Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, B.B. King, Joe Cocker, and The Supremes.

Joe Sample was also a founding member of the L.A. Express. This group started as the backing band for Tom Scott. However, Joe and another Crusader, Larry Carlton, left after the first album. In 1975, Joe recorded an album called The Three with jazz musicians Ray Brown (bass) and Shelly Manne (drums).

Pioneering Electric Keyboards

The electric keyboard was quite new in the 1960s. Joe Sample became one of the first musicians to use this instrument. He started using the electric piano while the group was still called the Jazz Crusaders. The group had a huge hit song called "Street Life" and an album with the same name in 1979. In 1978, he recorded Swing Street Café with guitarist David T. Walker.

Later Years and Legacy

The Crusaders band broke up after recording Life in the Modern World in 1987. But the members still played together sometimes over the years. They released Healing the Wounds in the early 1990s. In 2003, Felder, Hooper, and Sample recorded their first album as the reunited Crusaders, called Rural Renewal. They even played a concert in Japan in 2004.

After his first solo album, Fancy Dance (1969), Joe Sample recorded many more. These included Sample This, which was produced by George Duke.

Joe Sample's music was featured on The Weather Channel's "Local on the 8s" segments. His song "Rainbow Seeker" was on their 2008 album, The Weather Channel Presents: Smooth Jazz II. The actress Nicole Kidman sang his song "One Day I'll Fly Away" in the movie Moulin Rouge! (2001). Another popular song, "In All My Wildest Dreams," was used in songs by famous artists like Tupac and De La Soul.

Joe Sample passed away in Houston, Texas, at age 75. He had been working on a project called "Quadroon" with singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke.

Personal Life

Joe Sample had a son named Nicklas Sample, who is also a bass player. Nicklas is part of the Coryell Auger Sample Trio. Joe also had a wife, Yolanda, and three stepsons: Justin, Jamerson III, and Jordan Berry.

Joe Sample was a Catholic. He supported Catholic charities and churches throughout his life.

Discography

Sample performing in Paris, 1978

Here are some of the albums Joe Sample released as a leader and with The (Jazz) Crusaders.

As leader

With The (Jazz) Crusaders

• Freedom Sound (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
• Lookin' Ahead (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
• The Jazz Crusaders at the Lighthouse (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
• Tough Talk (Pacific Jazz, 1963)
• Heat Wave (Pacific Jazz, 1963)
• Jazz Waltz (Pacific Jazz, 1963) with Les McCann
• Stretchin' Out (Pacific Jazz, 1964)
• The Thing (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
• Chile Con Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
• Live at the Lighthouse '66 (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
• Talk That Talk (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
• The Festival Album (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
• Uh Huh (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
• Lighthouse '68 (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
• Powerhouse (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
• Lighthouse '69 (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
• Give Peace a Chance (Liberty, 1970)
• Old Socks New Shoes – New Socks Old Shoes (Chisa, 1970)
• Pass the Plate (Chisa, 1971)
• Hollywood (MoWest, 1972)
• Crusaders 1 (Blue Thumb, 1972)
• The 2nd Crusade (Blue Thumb, 1973)
• Unsung Heroes (Blue Thumb, 1973)
• Scratch (Blue Thumb, 1974)
• Southern Comfort (Blue Thumb, 1974)
• Chain Reaction (ABC/Blue Thumb, 1975)
• Those Southern Knights (ABC/Blue Thumb, 1976)
• Free as the Wind (ABC/Blue Thumb, 1977)
• Images (ABC/Blue Thumb, 1978)
• Street Life (MCA, 1979)
• Rhapsody and Blues (MCA, 1980)
• Standing Tall (MCA, 1981)
• Ongaku Kai - Live in Japan (Crusaders, 1981; GRP, 1993)
• Royal Jam (MCA, 1982) with B.B. King
• Ghetto Blaster (MCA, 1984)
• The Good and the Bad Times (MCA, 1986)
• Life in the Modern World (MCA, 1988)
• Healing the Wounds (GRP, 1991)
• Rural Renewal (Verve, 2003)

With CreoleJoe Band

• CreoleJoe Band (PRA, 2013)

As sideman

See also

In Spanish: Joe Sample para niños