Saundra Hewitt - Saundra (1976/2012) CD-Rip

A rare treat from vocalist Saundra Hewitt - a singer with an incredible range right from the start - and a righteous power that matches some of her bigger-name 70s contemporaries! The grooves here are jazzy, but with a definite soulful undercurrent - especially on the rhythms, which often get a nice crackle from Bernard Purdie's drums! Paul Griffin plays electric piano on the set, and Bob Mintzer serves up some nice tenor solos too - but the whole righteous vibe hangs heavily on Saundra's great lyrics - on tunes that inlcude "Won't Be Water Next Time", "Got A New Pair Of Shoes", "Heart Of Stone", "Up On Cripple Creek", "Just To Be With You", and "I Loved You Too Much".

Tracks:

01. Won't Be Water Next Time (Hewitt) - 3:37
02. Got a New Pair of Shoes (Lashley-Hewitt) - 6:33
03. Heart of Stone (Calloway-Frank) - 6:22
04. Up on Cripple Creek (Roffie-Robertson) - 5:37
05. I Loved You Too Much (Lashley) - 5:31
06. Just to Be with You (Hathaway) - 3:45

Personnel:

Saundra Hewitt - vocals
Bob Mintzer - tenor saxophone
Shiro Mori - guitar
Paul Griffin - electric piano, piano
Mark Gray - synthesizer
Bernard Purdie - drums
Kinney Landrum (#1-4) - piano, electric piano
Tinker Barfield (#1-4), Chuck Rainey (#5,6) - bass
Priscilla Baskerville (#1), David Lashley (#1,2,4,5), Arnold McCuller (#1,4,6), Ula Hedwig (#2), Lynn Pitney (#2,4,6) - background vocals
Mayumi Nakamura (4-months-old with two teeth) - baby vocals

Recorded at Masterhouse Studio, New York on May 28 and June 1, 1976, and Sound Exchange Studio, New York on July 8-10, 1976.