Junior Walker

For years I thought that the only way to play a saxophone was to sound like Junior Walker, mainly because I had a copy of the Shotgun album that I played over and over, listening to the way Walker made the instrument shriek, wail and squeeze out spine-straightening riffs. True, Shotgun is the tune commonly associated with Junior Walker and the All Stars, but I liked "Roadrunner" and "Cleo' s Mood" and "Shake and Fingerpop" just as well.

As far as facts are concerned, Junior was born Autry DeWalt Jr in Blytheville, Arkansas, then grew up in South Bend, Indiana. He originally recorded for Harvey Fuqua, but went to Motown when Berry Gordy, Jr. bought out all Fuqua's labels. Besides Junior himself, the All Stars featured Vic Thomas on keyboards, Willie Woods on guitar and drummer James Graves. Most of the group's hits were sandwiched in between 1965 and the early 70s, but none of them ever reached the same stature as "Shotgun".

Soul Session was the All Stars' second album on Motown's Soul label. The funkiest tune has to be the way Junior and the band rip up "Moonlight in Vermont", title tune from a 1943 "b" musical, starting with the original comforting melodic line, then upping the tempo and injecting the funk before settling back into a comfortable, romantic groove. Soul Session definitely stands out because it is totally instrumental , and shows the true depth of the All Stars' talent. Best cuts include "Satan's Blues", the sound of gritty urban blues at its best, including organ riffs reminiscent of jazz great Jimmy Smith; "Shake Everything"; "Good Rockin'" and "Brainwasher." Junior's playing on this album has always been for me the true definition of (for lack of a better term) "urban" saxophone, ranking with Miles Davis in my lexicon of horn players.

Walker decided to branch out on his own in 1979 with little success except for the fact that he played the sax solo for "Urgent", the rock group Foreigner's hit in 1981, and was back at Motown in 1983. He succumbed to cancer in 1995.

In general, I prefer music with energy, power and humor. Junior Walker and the All Stars exceeded all three categories, and created a monument to funk that was ahead of its time.