Joe Sample | Jazz pianist, 75
Joe Sample, 75, an iconic pianist who cofounded the Crusaders and revolutionized jazz fusion in the 1960s and 1970s, died Friday morning in Houston. His family announced Mr. Sample's death on Facebook, without mentioning the cause. The pianist was hospitalized last year with pneumonia after suffering from ongoing health issues, including heart attacks in 1994 and 2009.
Joe Sample, 75, an iconic pianist who cofounded the Crusaders and revolutionized jazz fusion in the 1960s and 1970s, died Friday morning in Houston. His family announced Mr. Sample's death on Facebook, without mentioning the cause. The pianist was hospitalized last year with pneumonia after suffering from ongoing health issues, including heart attacks in 1994 and 2009.
Mr. Sample, a keyboardist and composer for more than five decades, also worked with Marvin Gaye, Anita Baker, Joni Mitchell, and Canned Heat.
While studying at Texas Southern University in the mid-1950s, Mr. Sample formed the Jazz Crusaders with classmates including saxophonist Wilton Felder, drummer Stix Hooper, and trombonist Wayne Henderson. They moved to Southern California and recorded their first album, Freedom Sound, in 1961. Nineteen of their 40-plus albums landed on the Billboard 200 chart.
The group later changed its name to the Crusaders after experimenting with funk and R&B, before parting ways in 1987.
Mr. Sample also had a thriving solo career and appeared on classic pop-rock albums such as Mitchell's Court & Spark and Gaye's Let's Get It On.
- Inquirer wire services