Street Life

A bit too jazzy for me, sounded good but not enough to return

Street life is such a tune, and I doubt I've ever listened to the full length track, so that was a pleasure. The rest of the album was pleasant enough!

Fun

6/10 - Decent jazz but kind of faded into the background

Album was fine in the background. My Lady is sampled on a Mac Miller song from Faces that I really like, which was pretty fun to hear. As far as jazz goes this isn't doing enough for me to really care about it, but it's also not really bad

Friends pull up to drop some soul hits, I respect it. Disco beat drop is also sick. Super long songs, but I imagine they'd be a good vibe on a record player in the background. Kinda gets repetitive and at time the sax feels a bit corny.

definitely would have to be in the mood for this, but it was really good and i need to up my jazz knowledge so i appreciate that this came up

Interesting that this would randomly come up as if in a series of artists that are perfectly good, even interesting, but seem to fall into that middle place, where they are fine and have moments of glory but generally fit into a "yeah, they are OK" position within their genre and time space. I saw The Crusaders as funk/ disco/ instrumental jazz... Kind of an interesting hybrid and done well, but it never felt like "Ah! Now this is really something!" but always was "merely" entertaining. I like entertaining, entertaining is good! But entertaining is not necessarily memorable. Outside a nod to their hit title song, I don't think I will have The Crusaders on my daily playlist.

Det är något med sån här sax-musik som jag har lite svårt för. Inte att jag tycker det är dåligt men det klickar inte riktigt.

Pretty commercial jazz music from the late 1970s but it was good to listen to in the background, smooth and pleasant.

I'm more impressed by the production than the music itself. This is just quintessential 70s with deep, smooth bass and dry staccato drums. Music wise, it sometimes gives off elevator music vibes, but a fun elevator with Blackjack and hookers. 2.7/5.

Great vibes, but I can’t see myself listening to this a lot again— except for maybe a fun cleaning day. Seems like rough judgement, but hey it’s my choice

Some pleasant background jazz.

Not bad but definitely a few steps from good. I very much enjoy jazz but this veered a little too close into Muzak Territory. Overall not much to write home about.

Street Life: 3/5. Did NOT have to be 11 minutes long. Cut it in half and it's at least an 8. Vocals fit, fairly good, instrumental is very nice, appreciate the Saxophone. My Lady: 3/5. No vocals, but could've used some of you wanted some. The instrumental was chill, but could've been better and flowed better from the beginning-ish keyboard to the saxophone and such. Rodeo Drive (High Steppin'): 3/5. Very groovy, almost somewhat Western like. The intro brought it down, and it definitely could have used some vocals. Still pretty good. Carnival of the Night: 4/5. Very much something you would hear walking by a "Live Performance" bar in New Orleans or something. Nothing much else to say. The Hustler: 3.5/5. Nothing wrong with it, just not as good as Carnival of the Night (I'm listening to this in order.) Night Faces: 4/5. Really good ending song, it's very similar to Carnival of the Night and The Hustler in terms of feel, but it overall id say I'd better, a bit faster pace, and overall I just like it more. Crusaders Album: 3.5/5. There were some mediocre, some okay, and some good. The first song was just far too long. Would at minimum be around a 4/5 if the song was cut in half. More vocals could've made it better, but also worse. I might listen to it again.

Great title track, but after reading the reviews calling the rest elevator music, I can’t unhear it.

I just find instrumental music hard, but I appreciate their talent

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦. Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ Stand Out Songs: N/A A very mild Jazz album. Not terrible but literally not remarkable.

Cool funky jams to groove on

Not the best jazz album on the list but still enjoyable

Jazz. Background

This was fine but not sure what makes this stand out, I've listened probably 3 times all together and I'm pretty indifferent.

The Crusaders made one of my favourite songs but unfortunately it wasnt on this album it was pretty good, leaning towards a 4 but I cant rate it a 4 sadly. just not enough

A bit smooth for my taste. I have a live Crusaders album, which has a little bit more bite, but I find their jazz funk a little too polished on this album. I mean, I get that they were pitching this album to a more mainstream, audience, and who can blame them? Joe Sample, Wilton Felder and Stix Hooper had each been working musicians for probably 20 years by this stage and had earned a financial payoff. The title track is terrific (chef's kiss to Randy Crawford's sublime vocals), but the album just washes over me, making little impact. Title track aside, this is not the most interesting representation of the Crusaders work. But I hope they invested the proceeds of this album wisely and enjoyed their eventual retirement comfortably. Well earned, gentlemen!

Sounds good. Too bad that time has made it part of the background.

Great musicianship. Solid album.

Basically disco funk soul without the singing. Very smooth. Maybe too smooth. Songs are too long, otherwise not bad. Favorite song: streetlife

6/10. Street life is a great song but the rest of the album feels like jazzy filler. Some good stuff by not really for me

Fun ride and easy to listen to esp when working

This was fun but I liked the vocals on the first track and wanted more of tht

this is basically the definition of 'blandly pleasant"

Seventies Fusion Lounge Jazz. 'Nuff said.

Nice, but a little too long and much of the same

great album

6.5/10

Overall: 5/10 Decent instrumental album, the title track with vocals is the best song though. Not something I'll listen to a lot. Fav Song: Street Life Least Fav Song: Carnival of the Night

Je connaissais une version plus courte de Street Life, mais pas plus. Cette version étendue est intéressante, avec toujours une ligne de basse superbe et des chorus plus longs. Les autres morceaux instrumentaux ne sont pas en reste. J'aime assez les chorus et l'ambiance funk/jazz. Bon moment donc, mais pas sur qu'il rejoigne ma collection (un peu éloigné de mes gouts musicaux). =>3/5

first listen very forgettable smooth jazz

Opening title track rapidly became tiresome, but enjoyed the other instrumental tracks.

Solid drawing music.

Delivers what it sets out to do. Smooth sounds. Sunday morning clean your house music

I've never heard of The Crusaders before, but I tend to enjoy albums from this era, so I have pretty decent expectations for this album. This album was fine, but I didn’t think it was particularly novel or noteworthy. The arrangements were well crafted and pleasant to listen to, but I didn’t really find much about it that stuck out to me. I did like that the whole album had a nice groove to it, and it flowed really nicely from song to song. I thought the title track was easily the best part of the album. The string and horn arrangements were great, and I loved the vocals. For a song with a really long run time, it did a great job at not wearing out its welcome. The whole album is smooth and pretty enjoyable, but that’s about it. Street Life isn’t a bad effort, but it’s not really for me.

I have a slight heart for soft jazz. I don't think any smooth jazz, quiet storm, whatever what you want to call it, ever gets above a four rating, because it never pushed any boundaries, but it's a nice enjoyable sound for me. This is definitely not one my favorites (or my favorites of the genre), but it works for what it is. (7.3) ★★★½ I don't feel this particular album is essential. If I were to replace this with another soft jazz album it would be Chuck Mangione - Feels So Good.

The title track features the grand Randy Crawford, was used on the Jackie Brown soundtrack and is a scorcher of a funky disco soul anthem even if it is stretched for miles beyond its natural length. The rest of the album is immaculate, smoothalicious, background jazz funk of a very high order. Overall, not quite an uptown offering but still a virtuous showing from these coffee shop Crusaders. 3.5 stars.

такой джаз нравится меньше чем другой джаз. и уважаю стремящихся вокалистов, но не надо устремляться выше тональности

It's hard to comment beyond the already mentioned "this is elevator music". It absolutely is.

Op zich prima relaxte jazzy disco of blije jazz. Street Life is natuurlijk de bekende hit, dus dat is een prima binnenkomer. Daarna is het verder vrolijk gepiel. Af en toe lijkt het meer op jaren 80 sitcom achtergrondmuziek, maar ach, ook daar ligt wel wat nostalgie van de luisteraar. Prima voor op de achtergrond, net als in de sitcom.

Not bad as some backgroundmusic

not a bad album. fairly nice to listen to. i am a fan of this era of r&b and disco, but had never heard of this album or group before. while it's not bad, it's not really my cup of tea. it's definitely a "fusion" album insofar as it's a pleasant combination of jazz and r&b/disco. but because of that, it is a little bit more smooth than i tend to like my r&b. at times it feels like the music from the smooth jazz radio station that played in my childhood dentist's office. i think it's better than waiting room music, but it does have that feel to it. the musicianship displayed here is very good and extremely competent. overall, it was decent, but it's just not quite my taste.

Hörenswert! Hatte ich nicht auf dem Schirm!

nice and cheesy

Slickly produced jazz-funk-fusion album, with THAT track (with Randy Crawford's vocals.) All very smooth, but just has an air of being a soundtrack album for some Blaxploitation movie. Nothing special, but not at all objectionable.

Felt like the first song would never end. Overall, this wasn't terrible.

I always really dug the Jazz Crusaders album with the shoes on it. This being the same group with a different name. Kinda love this short ass album opening with an 11 minute jazzy disco epic, I like it! It’s a fine album. Nothing groundbreaking

К сожалению, альбом не зацепил, хотя музыка такого жанра мне очень нравится, несмотря на лёгкость и приятность звучания.

Хороший джаз

Late ‘70s smooth Jazz with a sprinkling of disco and funk. I liked the guitar solo in one of the songs, and bits of other songs. Some of it sounds like the theme song of a sophisticated early ‘80s tv show.

Not bad, not great, not anything I’m going to listen to again. I can respect the craft though.

Smooth disco-infused jazz is pretty low down the list of musical styles I'd choose to listen to, but surprisingly this agreed with me, by and large: a perfectly adequate soundtrack to a bus ride on a sunny September day. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. 2.5

As a pretty big Jazz fan, I’m kind of disappointed in this. The title track is pretty good, but the rest is rather forgettable and conservative. Considering what was going on in the rest of the Jazz and Fusion scene at the time, it all seems a bit safe. It’s not unenjoyable, but I don’t see why it’s considered a classic

Great dance/disco/jazz fusion. Only the first song had vocals, which I found surprising. Sax is lead instrument throughout this jazz fusion album.

Kind of interesting light jazz.

Street Life 🎶

The first song was a pretty good jam, the rest of the tracks are easy listening disco flavored pop jazz that kind of just floated right past my ears.

Effervescent grooves that go down easy. The title track is probably the only required listening but it was all enjoyable/smooth as hell.

Street Life is a solid 4/5 track. The proceeding 30-minutes of jazz instrumentals wore a little thin, though. More Street Life, less instrumental.

Joe Sample's band, I like him.

Not bad background jazz. It mostly doesn’t command your attention after the first track

Good moments but then turns into the Wii sports menu music. 2.5

This isn’t super original and it’s a mistake to call it jazz but it’s super chill and funky. I take it over any of the hundreds of mediocre brit-rock bands on this list.

Really enjoyed the jazz vibes from '79

'Street Life' is a fantastic song, a real classic, stand-out tune. The album as a whole is a nice listen. Good groove, crisp and funky. It's not that kind of jazz that disappears up its own rectum. 'Night Faces' (the last track) is the weakest - a bit muzaky - but the rest is cool.

I liked this, never gonna listen to it again, but I liked it

Funky

Street Life // My Lady //

Street Life has a really unique sounding opening that I enjoyed. But overall, I'm not a huge fan of jazz. I don't think I'm into it enough to appreciate what this album is and haven't really developed the ear for it. So listening to this album was a bit tiring at times. I did get some nostalgia from it though. It reminded me of late night drives we took when I was a kid and the music the live artist that used to play in Downtown Disney. I don't think I'll be coming back to this album anytime soon, but I'm glad I listened.

So so, Street life is great track but the rest are a bit meh

The smiths are awesome. One of a kind

This was nice, but not nice enough to listen to again

It was an alright listening experince. A little too laid back for my personal taste but it was bearable.

I liked it. Smooth jazz. Very easy listening while working. 3.5 stars for me.

Not heard of these guys before but very much enjoyed this. 3.5

Street life is a great song, the rest of the album is somewhat uplifting elevator jazz fusion. 3 Stars.

yo that was pretty good

Canciones favs: - My Lady Del Jazz que realmente escucharía (o la mayoría). Muy instrumental para mi gusto pero muy groovy

I detest cool/smooth Jazz and The Crusaders are the group that I never knew to blame. The reason being I've heard most of this album e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Grocery stores, elevators, dentists, offices. Anyplace that was subject to background muzak in the 70s and 80s had this group and this album in heavy rotation. I can still smell the retro naugahyde-laden dentist offices thanks to this memory. Still, this album was a game changer and I hate that I have to rate it as high as a 3 but personal biases aside, this album deserves its slot here. 3/5

Oh my god it’s Nick’s favorite thing, Jazz vibes! All hail the tenor sax!

Fun

the first song is a certified banger, and the others were nice background music:)

Algo relaxante pra se ouvir de manhã

I am not a fan of music with no vocals, but this was enjoyable when working.

this album manages to blend elements of disco, soul, jazz, and funk into a near-homogenous mix, which is worthy of praise. unfortunately, it does this with very basic forms of each ingredient, creating a somewhat bland product - though still one i'll probably come back to every so often.

I enjoyed the title track, the rest of the album didn’t leave that much of an impression. It’s nice and smooth, but wasn’t very memorable for me.

Overall, a fun listen. Probably not something I would go to frequently but I enjoyed it. I can see why some of the reviews describe this as elevator music, but sometimes I actually enjoy that kind of sound. A lot of the key to that for me is if I have control over listening or if I'm being forced to listen to it while on hold. I saw a lot of people mention that they liked the title track but nothing else. Kind of wonder if that is because it's the only track with vocals? I'm the other way around. Street Life was probably the song I liked the least. I preferred Carnival of the Night and The Hustler. Night Faces and Rodeo Drive (High Steppin') were also fun.

The Crusaders were my intro to jazz back in the day - accessible and groovy. A fun album, although a bit same-y after the first track. That's kind of The Crusaders in general, fun but not much variety in their sound.

Title track outshines the rest

Pleasant enough. In fact I quite liked portions of this. But this is quality background music. I can’t see myself ever throwing this on to enjoy. 3.5/5

I started on the back foot by finding the title track quite irritating, but it's actually a perfectly decent album really, if not necessarily to my tastes.

Street life - a well known song. Nice opening Sax. Great female vocalist. Nice bass line. Great song. nice way to open the album. My lady - some decent sax, bass and wah pedal. SHame theres no vocals. Rodeo drive - some very nice lead guitar in this track. The rest of the album is pretty good jazz. Each song has some strong pieces whether its the sax, bass, lead guitar, you name it. However, its music that blends into the background for me. I would prefer more vocals if im honest. Rating 3/5.

Funky fresh 3/5

It was ok. I’ve listened to other work from the Crusaders and liked it more, however this had a pleasing vibe.

Started promising but got a bit boring

"Street Life" by The Crusaders is an album that blends jazz, funk, and soul into a smooth, easy-listening experience. Released in 1979, the album is perhaps best known for its iconic title track featuring the powerful vocals of Randy Crawford. This song alone captures the vibrant and energetic essence of the late '70s music scene. While "Street Life" shines with its title track, the rest of the album tends to fall into a more predictable pattern. The musicianship is top-notch, as expected from The Crusaders, with tight grooves and polished production. Tracks like "My Lady" and "Rodeo Drive (High Steppin')" showcase their signature fusion style, blending jazz improvisation with funky rhythms. However, some listeners might find that the album lacks the innovation and edge that could make it stand out more distinctly. The instrumental pieces, while expertly played, sometimes feel repetitive and fail to leave a lasting impression compared to the standout opener. Overall, "Street Life" is a pleasant and well-executed album, perfect for background listening or for fans of smooth jazz-funk. It may not be groundbreaking, but its polished sound and standout title track make it worth a listen. Thus, it earns a solid 3 out of 5.

I've been tricked by 70s albums like this before. First song is a banger. The rest is perfectly fine easy listening background jazz.

Visst är det bra med disco. Coolt med lite jazz och massa grejs men asså låtarna blev lite tråkiga. Visst kunde man ha det i bakgrunden och de var inte dåliga eller så men eftersom att det var mestadels instrumentalt och ganska monotont sound så sonade man ut.

It was very nice -- mellow and relaxing.

This is like funky elevator music. And I like it! Great, unoffending music that I can play at work.

street life!

Pretty smooth

A surprise -you will know the title cut, but the rest is pretty good late 70's jazz!

Pleasant enough album, but not essential listening. I would say with almost absolute certainty that it would not have made this list without the song "Street Life." One song, however, does not make an album one that "I must hear before I die."

makes me want to listen to city pop 11 minutes?????? okay street life is a banger but i really think they couldve made it shorter like the song would be basically the same if you took away 6 minutes, usually longer songs have different parts and build up to something big or whatever but this is just the same thing for 11 minutes my lady is nice but i want vocaaals

Noice

Soul-jazz. Similar sound to Spyro Gyra, which is understandable for the release year. Lean on the # of songs for the album.

Enjoyable album listen but will not really be visiting any of the songs on their own. Maybe title track. 6/10

Light instrumental jazz funk with a killer opening track. Independent coffee shop owners - take note! 3 cups of java out of 5 ☕️☕️☕️

Solid, kinda jam-band

I want to collect all the one-off disco songs on otherwise non-disco albums from like 1979-1983 on the 1001 albums list (looking at you, Blondie) onto one comp. The first track was nice, but it got kinda boring afterwards. I think I'm learning that I like weirder jazz than this. Which is weird bc I don't like weird jazz? I don't know. It was a 3.

is this jazz? i assume this is jazz. or something. it was fine, 2.5

I was concerned when this said 'jazz' but it definitely has disco vibes. It sounds like The Weather Channel, but in a (positive) way not in a (derogatory) way.

Good fun, pumping and jamming

“Street Life” is a solid opening track and sets the vibe, but overall the eat of the album just kind of went by without much of an impression. Decent listen.

3.5

I have not heard of this album before. It’s another jazz album but unlike the others from this website, it was actually somewhat enjoyable. I really liked the title track Street Life; the vocals were good. I probably won’t listen again unless I need some background music.

A bit dated—Good ambience listening, but not a grabber of a selection for me.

Jazz, Funk, Soul, and Disco all rolled into one album. I dug this album, even if it wasn't anything groundbreaking. It get's a +1 to the overall rating just for the title track appearing on QT's "Jackie Brown."

Standard jazz stuff. Nothing awful and nothing great.

I can appreciate musicians who master their instruments. My grandparents also listened to a lot of Jazz (Dixieland Jazz) so I'm used to a similar vein of music to this. We would go to Sacramento every May for a Jazz festival. I wish they were still here.

Jazz agradável para trilha sonora do começo da noite.

Promising sound, but ultimately feels too cheap

Yeah. Street life. Life. On the street. Yeah. Best song: Street Life

The title song/opening track is one of these instant-recognizable hit songs from late 70s that was sampled numerous times just like the second track (My Lady). The other tracks are more jazz than funk, and it is no surprise that they are hardly sampled at all. So, this is a strange album with a great first half (5*) and a much less interesting second half (2*). Overall: 3* (would never listen to 2nd half again).

OK... nothing more, nothing less

Groovy

Enjoyed, especially Street Life, but kept forgetting it was playing after that.

Good 70s funk

Jazzy.

Very commercial. Good musicians. A little insipid. Jazz Crusader stuff is better. 3 stars

If I were driving down the road of that album's cover that night, I'd probably dig this a lot more. But I'm in another imaginary scenario which is at a bar while this band is playing up on the stage and my mates want to leave for the next part of the evening and I'm like "Alright, let's go." (Street Life, of course, is gold)

Enjoyable enough, but I’ll probably shortly have forgotten about it.

Favourite song - Carnival of the night

Enjoyed it. Street Life is a classic and it seems it could go on indefinitely and I'd still like it. If I got to know the rest of it better it would probably go up to 4 stars.

Love Randy Crawford’s voice so that was a big plus. Pleasant to listen to, perhaps a bit aural wallpaper overall but I’ll probably put it on again in the summer.

This opens with "Street Life" (the song) which is an 11-minute jazzy / disco / soul song with Randy Crawford guest singing. She's got a nice voice, and it's pretty fun overall if you're into the groovy '70s type of thing. These guys put out A LOT of music (49 albums by Wikipedia's count) and this seems to be their most popular song by quite a bit. After this, the album has 5 more songs that I would probably describe as elevator music. It's perfectly ok, but nothing stands out to me in the way that say Dave Brubeck did (when I listened to it yesterday). It's this saxophone-y smooth jazz sound that's consistently fine, and generally not much more than that in my (very unprofessional) opinion. Favorite song: Street Life Other: My Lady 2/13/24

fun saxophone

Really nice groovy and chill jazz/funk album. I don't think I've enjoyed saxophones as much as i did on this record. I wish there was more vocals like on the first track though. Close to a 4 but going to settle on a very strong 3.

Bluesy/Jazzy/70s soul

3.5/5 interesting, will have to relisten

Nice way to start the day. Street Life was a good listen. May need to visit some of the other albums.

Hey its that one song you know from like movies or TV or commercials or whatever. Rest is decent too.

Soundtrack to your funky life-lyrics on track 1 only! 3/5

Interesting combination of Disco and jazz. Most songs are instrumental, the title track had lyrics, good vocals. Overall it was upbeat, not bad to listen to, it all kind of blended together after a while, not much differentiation between the tracks

smooth jazz. enjoyable enough.

Was pleasant to listen to while I worked. Can't say it blew me away, but it was fine.

This is what elevator music wishes it could be.

Funky. Mostly no vocals.

Top notch disco-y jazz--very warm and friendly. It lands a little cheesy these days, but is nonetheless quite enjoyable.

This record is a great mix of jazz, funk, and soul. It feels like you've time travelled to the 70's, yet remains timeless. It's smooth and lush. I would love more vocals though, since they're so strong on Street Life.

It has some nice stuff but sticks rigidly to the formula

Very poppy 🪩🕺

Street Life- 3.8/5 My Lady- 3.2/5 Rodeo Drive (High Steppin')- 3/5 Carnival of the Night- 3.6/5 The Hustler- 3.1/5 Night Faces- 2.9/5 Total- 3.3/5

Jazz so smooth that it left little to no impression

I don't feel like this album did anything major for me, but I must say that it was super smooth and easy to listen to! By mixing jazz and funk, they created something really enjoyable here! It's definitely pleasant music all around, but it's just average!

Pretty cool R&B album. Mostly instrumental.

It was pretty good. banger first track followed by some solid instrumentals after. Solid Jazz Album but nothing will really stick with me afterwards

Good stuff, think I was a fully qualified lounge lizard by the end though.

Sax lovers will faint

Idk, it's jazz and it's okay ig

Street Life - Sax at the beginning sounded amazing. The part just before the first verse where it’s only piano until the other instruments punch in is very enjoyable. Vocals and instruments are great, the only thing that’s lacking in my eyes is the lyrical content; Granted though the idea the song is presenting doesn’t resonate with me. Pretty lengthy listen, I think ending the song after verse 2 would result in a more enjoyable listen. 3.4/5 My Lady - I initially really liked the trumpet in this song, however I came away thinking it domineered the track in a bad way. The drums are nice and laid back, wish I could hear more from them. Sax was great. I’m typically not to keen on instrumentals but I think my mind is starting to change. 3.6/5 Rodeo Drive - A welcome change in song length. A nice listen. 3.3/5 Carnival of the Night - Falls a little flat towards the middle. The piano seems to be the focal point, but it’s not particularly impressive. 2.6/5 The Hustler - It’s alright, I don’t have too much to say about it. 2.5/5 Night Faces - Pretty much the same as the last song. 2.5/5 The front half was a lot better than the second half. The front half seemed to have more substance to the music while the back half sounded, not phoned in, but just lackluster. A couple of songs went a little longer than I think is necessary. People have called this elevator or hold music but I think that only really applies to the last 3 songs. 3/5

I liked the funkier parts of this one. Could do without the stuff that sounds like 70s porno

Instrumentaal, eerste liedje is wel lekker.

Street Life hit song, but otherwise muzak-y in a jazzy way. 3.4

Good musicians, reminds me of something I might hear while I'm waiting at the dentist office in the seventies.

it was ok. i like jazz standout track: street life

Street Life (the song) was fantastic and really is the album. The remaining songs are good but are more like a jam. This is a very good one song album

The jazz gunk was fun. It had only one song with words, and that was 12 minutes long and could have been 5 with no vocals. Maybe a good album to listen to when you are reading

Herbie Hancock, Earl Klugh and motown. Creatively diverse composition and phrasing allows for a bouncier, warmer interpretation of classic R&B soul structures. Carnival of the Night is a Headhunter b-side composed by an actually sane person. Feels unfinished, like a small sampler EP of band favorite jams. My Lady The Hustler

First song is great, meh to the rest.

Street Life is good, a bit long… The rest of the songs are good background music but not much else.

Pleasant, if a bit uninspiring. Street Life clearly the stand out track but lasted 7 minutes too long. Vocals sorely missing from a couple other songs. 2.5*

Erittäin entertaining läpi levyn. Helppo kolmonen

Inessential album with a great single on it. Again, the strings add nothing!

Some smooth grooves. Nice saxophone.

Always liked Street Life, there's a much shorter radio edit that I have on my favourite playlist. Otherwise, pretty good, listenable jazz.

Not much to say on this album, I liked it, saving most of the songs. Street life is a fantastic track and by far my favourite, without it I might have had a sour taste, nonetheless I enjoyed this record. Favourites: Street Life / My Lady / Carnival Of The Night / Night Faces

It was kinda fun

Street Life is repetitive as hell but it's still a pretty baller track. The rest is ok

Listened Before? N Interesting. Kind of hybrid Jazz/Disco. I really like the title track despite it's 11:18 run time. The rest of it was good too. I may revisit. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Street Life

The usual ok album

So cheesy but some moments of real funk in there.

Very average and unexceptional Jazz music. Ok overall but nothing special.

It was difficult to find the album on my device at first. It was a good album with a bit of jazz funk. I wasn’t concentrating but I enjoyed it. 3*

Nice mix of RNB and Jazz

Started out great, but ended up sounding like hold music.

Not the worst album ever: I would have to agree with the other reviews that this album is literal background music. I can imagine sitting in a restaurant and this is playing in the background and no one is taking notice. Not awful by any stretch of the imagination but at the same time it's lacking the energy and originality a good jazz/funk record should have.

jazzy. nice

A fine example of noodling without destination. Perfectly pleasant to listen to whilst doing almost anything else, but not interesting in and of itself. Streetlife obviously a banger, the rest of it gentle noodling in the void.

3.5/5

This is basically Yacht Rock - Slighty jazzy, 70's slow jams, Disco-lite.

Made for pleasant walking music. Would've preferred street life at the end than the beginning.

Had literally no idea what this would be like going in, had never heard of the Crusaders before and had no idea who any of the members were. Been enjoying adding a bit of funk into my own music lately, so this was a fun discovery. The opening track is both great, but also too long. I couldn't give more than a 3 because it did just turn into nice background music in the end.

Liked didn't love

Solid jazz

Just a great jazzy, funky, soul record. Just excellent vibes all around. What a delight.

Elevator jazz

Good background music

Fine smooth jazz/R&B, but nothing special.

This was fine. Nothing remarkable, but it was nice to have on while I worked. The jazz guitar solos were very good.

Es música como la que se escucharía en un pasillo de Superama pero está chida aún así

Cool 70’s vibe

This album had me for like the first five minutes, then the song lasted 11 minutes and the rest was instrumental that blended together.What a waste.

2/6, 33%

Opening track good, gets a little porno groove after tho

Best Song: Street Life. Long and winding, but the vocal performance really ties the track together. Worst Song: The Hustler. Too sleazy for my liking. Feels like it should be played over casino and strip club montages from some middling late 80s movie. Overall: Nice background jazz that would be great for driving around at night. Alas, I don't have a car, so I can't imagine when I might otherwise listen to this.

Started off sounding like 80s neo-soul but then it turned into some funky, relaxed, almost jazz fusion type of music. Sounded a bit like elevator music at times, but still enjoyable

It says this is jazz-funk, but where's the funk?

I was annoyed at how long the first track was, it should be like 3-4 mins tops. Then the rest is just instrumental? Kind of want them to commit to one or the other.

The wide range from the smooth jazz to the cringy soul, but rather yes than no

weather channel music

Not my style but recognised Randy Crawford's voice straightaway

Bit patchy but 11min Street Life >>>>>>>>>

Heard Street Life in the Venture Bros, so...3 stars. I still hang aroooound.

Good background music

Pretty chill

Interesting album. Felt like this is music I would listen to while waiting to see the dentist, but not in a bad way.

Good stuff from a group I’d never heard of before. Well produced, catchy (I got a mix of R&B and Steel Dan type jazz), but I have a hunch there’s better stuff to discover in this genre. Standouts we’re the title track (which didn’t feel like 11 min long at all) and Carnival of the Night, which I loved.

Steve Jesus type of music. Not usually something I'd listen to but I enjoyed. I didn't hate anything nor did anything really stand out. Solid piece of music.

Du bon petit jazz qui se laisse écouter

A 3 star album with "street life" as a 4 star standout track

Pretty good

An 11 minute song to start the album? Straight to jail. This journey has made me realize that I like jazz. Overall I liked this but I found it kind of boring. It felt like it was just generic jazz; there wasn’t anything that stood out to me.

Fine, doubt I'll listen too again

I don't really get why this album is on this list. It's not bad by any stretch, but it kinda gets in one ear and leave out the other instantly. The first track is too long and feel like boring toothless disco, the subsequent track feel like middle of the road jazz-fusion. meh 6,6/10

This is funky but didn’t really capture me - it felt a bit like I was on hold with a telco. I liked the vocals of the opening track, and probably would’ve enjoyed if the rest of the album wasn’t just instrumental. However, I think this would slap live! Just not something I want to listen to day-to-day with headphones.

Damn accomplished and silky smooth

Never heard of 'em... Interesting

That’s some smooth, smooth sax

Nothing revolutionary sounding, nothing terrible either - this record is just *there*. The first track is nice enough, after which it devolves into one of your standard thoroughfare lounge jazz albums, and of course, that's not interesting at all.

Never heard of the Crusaders and all of the music from The Street Life was new to me. I think that there was too much saxophone for me to want to come back to this album. The vocals on the first track felt very set in the time that this album was produced. The album was okay.

Jazz

Okay. 3.5

Before today, I'd never heard of the Crusaders. They had a long history, spanning several band name changes before settling on the Crusaders (used to be the Jazz Crusaders, but they didn't want to be tied down to one genre, so they dropped the "jazz"). Once the smoke cleared, what was left was a jazz fusion band, which took aspects of jazz, funk, and R&B, and layered them into their unique blend of music. This music sounds like a cross between elevator music, a porno groove, and upbeat, jazzy 80's sitcom theme songs. It is great stuff if you keep an open mind to it. I can see how people would find it bland, but I quite enjoyed it. Maybe it's because the band displays actual talent, unlike yesterday's dumpster fire. There is a lot of great soloing by all involved on this record, and each song doesn't overstay its welcome. Even the opening song, Street Life, which is 11 minutes long. It certainly didn't feel that long. Maybe it was the inclusion of lyrics by Randy Crawford on that track, but it was a great song all around. Overall, I enjoyed this album. Nothing really jumped out at me, but it was a perfectly acceptable jazz fusion record (unlike most of the others of this genre I've reviewed so far). Favourite songs: Street Life, My Lady, Rodeo Drive (High Steppin'), Carnival of the Night Least favourite song: Night Faces 3/5

An excellent first song and then a classic jazz album that does not excites me too much, but it's easy to get the qualities of the songs. I love pieces that use sax, which is nice on this album, even if not the best sax work that I listened to.

Despite the strong start the album initially has, it devolves into bland Jazz-Fusion music that's incredibly boring and by the numbers (the kind of music you listen to on hold or in elevators).

Nice, easy listening. The kind of album you don’t realize has been done for five tracks; hard to say if that’s due to the album’s influence or it’s indistinguishability from its contemporaries.

Ten years ago I would’ve loved this record, the players are top tier, grooves are tight and the production is fantastic. It’s flawlessly executed but it feels very safe and generic; it never really feels like they are taking any chances or reaching for anything.

Great piano solo of over 1 minute starting at 3:45 into the first track. The first track is quite good notwithstanding the disco hints. The rest of the album doesn't hit the same level.

The title track is a catchy and respectable jazz-pop hit. This stretched out version has some nice electric piano (and sax) as does My Lady afterward. The entire LP is a bit sugary, but I'll add a point because it was quite easy refreshing and easy to listen to after White Light/White Heat, but then again it is easy listening music.

Street Life is a banger. The rest of the album is a nice thing to put in the background but nothing too interesting. 3/5

Boring hotel lobby music.

Odma prva, odlična stvar, vidim nikako da stvar završi - al reko neka, nek ide (ulični) život. Dobar album sve u svemu, 3.5/5 bih ja dao i lako bi ovo sviralo u autu po noći dok voziš gradom.

NICE

Needs more Randy Crawford, whose vocal performance on Street Life makes this album worthwhile. That song alone gives merit for appearing on the list. It reminds some of Sharkey's Machine. It makes most everyone else think about Jackie Brown.

Solid, 70s jazz.

Street Life is the 30th album by the American jazz band The Crusaders. This jazz-funk album was the peak of the band's popularity, supported by the title track hitting the Top 40 pop singles chart. I thought it was a beautiful album, but the jazz music is a little too slow for my liking.

Nice album, dont think Ive ever actively listened to it before but I quickly recognized those songs.

Title track was great, but I'm having a hard time remembering anything else that stood out

Enjoyed the album. Wasn’t the best jazz record I’ve heard, but there wasn’t anything wrong with it really. Pretty in the middle. 3/5

Cheesy, but still kinda not bad?

Decent album for it being more jazzy. 3/5

real smooth jazz/disco - would have it on in the background again

Street life is great and there are some interesting instrumental parts to the other songs including a great guitar solo but some of it feels a bit garden centery. 2.5/5

Tää oli varsin lunkia jazzailua! Vähän kevyt ehkä. 3/5

11 minute long opener street life starts off as super gloomy rather lonely jazz track kind of akin to your latest trick by dire straits if you want something to refer to but then it evolves into a rather energetic funk track that could’ve honestly topped the charts if it weren’t so long. Instrumentally the track is a microcosm for the rest of the album, lyrically…well after the first song theres like none to be found. It’s still okay though 3/5.

Funkburg Simpson yuh

Street Life and then the rest. Both are OK, but for those that, like me, knew Street Life, the rest is a little unexpected. Smooth saxaphone led jazz with no vocals. OK is the best I can give it as it did not grab my attention.

I think the jazz elements were really good, but when they stray too far from that I think it gets a little bland. Overall probably just an okay record. 5/10

Jazz…………….nice

Better than the 'elevator music' promised by public reviews. Jazz noodlings not my thing, but the funkier elements are pretty good. Stars: 1/2 for enjoyment, incl the title track 1/2 for quality - sounded original and well played

OK, solo para poner de fondo

None of the songs on this album really drew me in. It was your average 70s album.

This album is the definition of "short and sweet". With only 6 songs (yeah, the first one lasts eleven minutes, but I'm a jam band and prog rock/metal fan so I'm accustomed to long songs) this album is short enough to listen to it in less than an hour. I listened to this to make my homework, and then I was like, "huh, it's over?". The first song, "Street Life" is very beautiful, same for the next one "My Lady". Unfortunately, aside from the two songs I mentioned (and maybe, "Night Faces" too), the other half of the album failed to impress me, which is sad since I really like this kind of jazz.

Title track is a classic

Solidly ok elevator department store music.

Not bad. Had some instrumental songs that I will play while I'm working, but overall kind of a bland album.

OK album. Definitely not "jazz".

The title track is wonderful, it deserves its reputation. And the harmonic changes if the second keep the interest up. As an album, I find that the following pieces don’t sustain the level of the first two.

Just what I needed on a chill Thursday evening.

Hey

Smooth jazz and Funk with orchestra hits. Lush strings and punchy brass. Instrumental solo sections in jazz tradition. Great bass line in streetlife. Very easy to listen to. I'm not sure what it is that makes this disco - maybe the combination of string runs and Funk grooves. Overall this album feels more funk and smooth jazz (although lightweight) than disco for the most part. My Lady moves through some fun non-diatonic dreamlike chords in the recurring section with the vocalization. I can see Kamasi Washington may have been inspired by those sonorities for some of his compositions i.e. changing of the guard. Ultimately a bit light-weight but would make excellent background music. It started strong but petered out by the end.

Grooovy

Pleasant jazz. 6 tracks long Only "Street Life" - 11 min long - has vocals.

Not my sort of jam. A bit too jazzy, although it has a really nice groove to it

Not a lot to say for this one. More fun than the previous two albums, but started to lose interest around the halfway point.

It is jazz album but not traditional jazz. It is has a little funk and disco to it. It was an easy listen. I dont think I will listen to it again. I didn't want to skip any songs and it helped that it was only 40 minutes. I will round up to a 3.

It's fine. Kinda blended into the background. Not bad music to work to!

I quite liked the songs themselves, especially Street Life (didn't know Randy Crawford wasn't the original!) but they each went on for a bit too long.

I quite like the title song, but the rest of the album feels like more of the same. The songs are too long.

Jazz, funk, 1979. Although the title track is quite captivating and catchy, the rest of the project is quite basic and not as interesting. Decent record anyway.

Nice and jazzy

This is basically the American version of Japanese city pop except i don’t like it as much as Japanese city pop. Still decent easy listening tho

There’s a definite groove here, but it’s better background than it is sit and listen music

It was both short and went on for too long - Like an EP stretched out into an album. An "Also ran" in the 1001 albums, there are some great funk-and-soul albums on this list but this isn't elite. It was fine.

Enjoyed…easy listening

This was a really fun jazz album! Felt like it was right for its time in 1979, each song could have been the opener for some new television talk show or elevator music and I mean that as a compliment.

This one's gotta be in the dictionary next to "adult contemporary." Never heard of these guys, but it's a good album. A bit R&B/funky, but peppier and lighter in its step. Great music for driving in the city. I could put this on and get a lot done. Favorite tracks: Rodeo Drive, Street Life, The Hustler. Album art: At least one of these guys looks crazy, but they're having fun. It's a city at night, which matches my assessment, but the music is much brighter. A pretty nice cover though. 3.5/5

Relaxed

Okay, I never knew Street Life was actually a sprawling 11 minute epic, and I love it even more than I did before now that I know this!!! After this, the rest of the album is instrumental jazz, funk and soul, which is fine, but didn't grab me so much. Sample diggers paradise though.

I found it bland after the opening track, which I loved.

3.5