The Sonny Lester Orchestra – How to Strip for Your Lover (feat. Jimmy McGriff, Lonnie Smith, Jimmy Ponder & Joe Thomas) (1998)

In 1963, the obscure alto saxman/producer/bandleader Sonny Lester led the sessions that resulted in the Roulette LPs Ann Curio Presents How to Strip for Your Husband, Vols. 1 & 2. (Curio had an off-Broadway show called This Was Burlesque). Those LPs, which sort of served as a jazz equivalent to Masters & Johnson's work, came at a time when the Sexual Revolution was just getting underway -- and as amusing as they seem in hindsight, they sent out a message that the U.S. desperately needed at the time. They playfully stated that yes, sexuality was something to enjoy and embrace, not fear (although it was sex within the confines of marriage -- so you couldn't accuse the LPs of promoting premarital sex). Thirty-five years later, Lester decided to have some fun by revisiting the How to Strip concept with this 1998 CD. While How to Strip for Your Husband (parts of which can be heard on Rhino's 1997 compilation Take It Off!: Striptease Classics) favored a creamy, Duke Ellington-influenced style of swing, How to Strip for Your Lover goes for a quiet storm appeal along the lines of Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn, Lonnie Liston Smith, and early Ronnie Laws. Like before, Lester offers what is essentially mood music -- only this time, he does it by fusing jazz with sleek '70s R&B. The music on this CD isn't brilliant, but it's likable, and Lester deserves credit for featuring talented sidemen like organist Jimmy McGriff and guitarist Jimmy Ponder. Lester also deserves credit for reviving the How to Strip theme and doing his part to remind the uptight America of the '90s (which was under siege by the Christian Coalition on the right and the equally repressive Politically Correctness Police on the left) that sexuality is something to embrace, not fear.