Saturday, June 13, 2009

All in the Family:OSF



Family by Hubert Laws with Debra Laws on vocals:

One of my favorites, Hubert Laws, Jr. was born in Houston. Many of his siblings also entered the music industry, including saxophonist Ronnie Laws and vocalists Eloise, Debra, and Johnnie Laws. According to Wikipedia, he began playing flute in high school after volunteering to substitute for the school orchestra's regular flutist. He became adept at jazz improvisation by playing in the Houston-area jazz group the Swingsters, which eventually evolved into the Modern Jazz Sextet, the Night Hawks, and the Crusaders. At age 15, was a member of the early Jazz Crusaders while in Texas (1954-1960), and he also played classical music during those years.

This is our home and this is our country. Beneath its soil lie the bones of our fathers; for it some of them fought, bled and died. Here we were born and here we will stay.

Paul Robeson


Youtube video by: Jazzyman 63

6 comments:

pjazzypar said...

Hey Rev, You know what the Laws family is awesome, with Eloise, Hubert, Ronnie and Debra. I remember Debra's first album where she and Ronnie did a duet on "Very Special". Good stuff!

Anonymous said...

REV!!

Brother you struck gold on this one for sure. The Laws brothers have definitely made their mark in the jazz/pop/funk arena. I used to be a fanatic for Ronnie's stuff in particular.

Great pic, and Happy OSF!

Marvalus said...

I didn't recognize the name, but once I heard the music, I remembered...

Good choice!

Dawn Fortune said...

Oh man, that was great. I don't know that I have ever heard the Laws family before, but that was just fantastic. Thanks for introducing me to some great music!

SjP said...

Now this was one heck of a pick! Forgot all about the family of Laws!

Vérité Parlant said...

Great choice because the music is smooth, vocals pleasant, and lyrics inspirational. :-) Happy OSF!