Hank Crawford’s Indigo Blue was recorded at JAC Studio in New York City on August 22-23, 1983. Crawford arranged the sessions. The supergroup of musicians on this vintage album include Crawford (alto sax, piano), Dr. John (piano, organ), Melvin Sparks (guitar), Wilbur Bascomb (bass), Bernard Purdie (drums) and a horn section featuring Martin Banks, Danny Moore, David “Fathead” Newman and Howard Johnson. This entire laid-back recording clocks in at thirty-five minutes.
Bennie Ross “Hank” Crawford was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1934. He started playing music at age nine in church. His friends in Memphis were Phineas Newborn, Jr., George Coleman and Little Booker. Along with Ike Turner, Crawford appeared on a 1952 recording with B.B. King. Ray Charles hired Crawford to play saxophone in the Ray Charles Orchestra where Crawford stayed until 1963. Crawford recorded albums for Atlantic Records as well as arranged music for Etta James, Lou Rawls and others. Crawford graced Eric Clapton’s Journeyman album in 1989. Music’s biggest artists always recognized Hank Crawford’s remarkable talent.
In 1983, Crawford told Fred Goodman about Indigo Blue: “This is the true me. I still do a bit of it all because I’m able to. But playing blues and ballads is a matter of choice: I can say more this way because it’s natural and I’m not imitating anybody. You can say anything so long as your music reaches out.”
A rendition of Percy Mayfield’s “All Alone and Blue” commences Indigo Blue, swinging along like a golden chariot down Rampart Street. Melvin Sparks’ tasteful guitar licks allow the music to traverse jazz, blues and soul avenues. “The Very Thought of You” operates like a musical sedative on the listener best heard in dim-lit quarters. “Things Ain’t They Way They Used To Be” showcases Dr. John the Night Tripper’s deft keyboard magic that emits a positive, upbeat mood. A version of Willie Nelson’s “Funny” counts as one of Indigo Blue’s most interesting numbers for its complex delivery on Nelson’s country classic.
The title track, penned by Crawford, captures his toe-tapping genius in this six-minute and thirty-second journey to stellar regions. The final cut, “Just For A Thrill”–a Lil Armstrong tune–evokes John Coltrane’s soulful sound at its most subdued. Indigo Blue never fails to deliver a shot of dopamine to the brain.
Hank Crawford died in Memphis on January 29, 2009, at the age of 74.