Joe Sample & NDR Big Band "Children of the Sun" live at JazzFest Berlin 2011

Jörg Achim Keller conductor, arrangements
Joe Sample compositions, piano
Thorsten Benkenstein, Ingolf Burkhardt, Claus Stötter, Reiner Winterschladen trumpet
Fiete Felsch, Peter Bolte alto sax
Christof Lauer, Lutz Büchner tenor sax
Frank Delle baritone sax
Nils Landgren trombone, vocals
Dan Gottshall, Klaus Heidenreich, Stefan Lottermann trombone
Ingo Lahme bass trombone
Stephan Diez guitar
Ingmar Heller bass
Robert Ikiz drums
Marcio Doctor percussion
recorded live at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Main Stage, November 5, 2011

1. Buttermilk Sky
2. Islands Of The Mind
3. Rumfire
4. Gold In The Cane
5. I Believe In
6. Children Of The Sun
7. Blue Abyss
8. I Wanna Go Home
9. Street Life

With the Crusaders he became famous far beyond the jazz scene, his song Street Life was a massive international disco hit, and he has proved to be a reliable provider of chart-breaking material, like One Day I’ll Fly Away for Randy Crawford. He has recorded with a wide range of bands and musos, among them Canned Heat, Steely Dan, The Supremes, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell and Eric Clapton.
Joe Sample is the golden boy of American fusion-jazz, but his recent project Children of the Sun is not as sunny as the title might imply. Stimulated by a visit to the Caribbean island of St. Croix, he started to look particularly into the subject of slavery – a part of his own family history.
Sample has been planning this project since 1995, and will bring his composition to the Berlin audience with the NDR Bigband (the Hamburg Radio Big Band), arranged by Jörg Achim Keller.
In 2005 Nils Landgren released Creole Love Call featuring Joe Sample.