Junior Walker & The All-Stars - Tune Up

I love this sound,but the video sucks.
in the face camera annoys me.
I love the Sax & Organ sound.

Love this tune!!...thanks for share...x

Junior was(IS) the coltrane of r+b

actually, funk and smooth jazz are two worlds apart, stylistically speaking. to name just a few, kenny g., grover washington, jr., and dave sanborn, all pioneers of the smooth jazz genre, were in fact not educated in the kind of raw, syncopated r&b emblematic of jr. walker. smooth jazz, as its name quite unequivocally suggests, derives from pop and jazz fusion :)

As marketing categories I might agree with you that they are "worlds apart"...but as a musicologist the difference between "straight ahead jazz" and "smooth jazz' is the rhythmic basis..."straight ahead is based on "swing" rhythm and "smooth jazz" comes out of "funk" rhythm. Liosten to the smooth jazz station and see what's mixed in with the Kenny Gs and so forth...Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie, Marvin, The crusaders etc. I'm speaking of the rhythmic foundation..am I clear?

in terms of rhythms, yes, but not in terms of style. smooth jazz is almost histrionic compared to funk and today, confined almost entirely to the radio format whereas funk remains a commercially viable genre. also, regarding smooth jazz stations, most tend to over-rely on instrumental covers of pop songs. as such, if the rhythmic patterns of smooth jazz (or "rhythmic foundation as you call it) do in fact lie in funk, nascent trends point to a redefinition of smooth jazz in favor of "smooth AC".

"Smooth Jazz"...like the term "Jazz" itself are terms invented by people OTHER than the people who actually play the music. So "smooth jazz' is a term applied to instrumental pop music. But that music's roots like all American pop music is "The Blues" or rhythm and blues. Most saxophonists in the SM idiom can be traced sylistically to Grover Wahsington, Wayne Shorter and David Sanborn. and David Sanborn can be traced to Hank Crawford, King Curtis and this man Jr. Walker

i'm convinced the linearity of the genres you draw attention to has been used solely for historical clarity.

I once met and played with Jr Walker's son Perry Smith...who could sing like Jr Walker played the sax...I mean could sing better than Johnnie Taylor (and that's no small achievement) a tremendously talented lad who also passed away too soon...

Thanks for mentioning her. she is a very talented lady. I first saw her as music director for natalie Cole in the 80s, Los Angeles, Calif. then she was Linda williams,