Urban Knights II is the second studio album by the jazz group Urban Knights released in 1997 on GRP Records. The album reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and No. 24 on the UK Top Jazz Albums chart.
Critical reception
Jazz Times stated "With moods playful to passionate and players in a relaxed goodtime frame of mind, it’s a perfect party disc." Don Adderton of the Sun Herald wrote "When you surround a master artist with a strong supporting cast, usually great things happen. On this second outing, Ramsey Lewis scores big on Urban Knights II (GRP)." Adderton added "Still the master craftsman, Lewis leads this all-star aggregation rampaging into funk, jazz, rhythm-and-blues and Latin-flavored ballads." Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times found that "The music that results can perhaps best be described as rhythm & jazz--bits and pieces of improvising from Lewis and the horn players juxtaposed against insistent, funk-driven rhythms. South African Butler, especially on the tracks in which he sings (“South African Jam” and “Brazilian Rain,” especially), brings a seductive world-music ambience to the proceedings." Jonathan Widran of Allmusic called the album a "Maurice White-produced exercise in easy funk and potent, machine generated urban grooves."
Track listing
Charts + Chart performance for Urban Knights II Chart (1997) Peakposition US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard) 7 US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (Billboard) 5 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) 48 UK Jazz Albums (Official Charts Company) 24
Personnel Gerald Albright – soprano saxophone Najee – flute, saxophone, soprano saxophone Frayne Lewis – keyboards Ramsey Lewis – piano, electric piano Mike Logan – keyboards Bill Meyers – synthesizer, backing vocals, Fender Rhodes Jimi Randolph – synthesizer Kevin Randolph – keyboards, synthesizer bass Jonathan Butler – guitar, vocals, backing vocals Sheldon Reynolds – guitar, backing vocals Morris Pleasure – bass Chuck Webb – bass Verdine White – bass Sonny Emory – drums Tony Carpenter – percussion Paulinho Da Costa – percussion Karen Boyd – backing vocals Carl Carwell – backing vocals Theresa Davis – backing vocals Valerie Mayo – backing vocals Maurice White – backing vocals Maggie Brown – female vocal on “Come Dance with Me”
References