Wilton Felder, a native of Houston, Texas is a founding member of the legendary Jazz-Fusion group, The Jazz Crusaders. The Jazz Crusaders helped introduce to the world a new style of music, jazz-fusion, which is formed by blending elements of jazz, rock, gospel, blues and soul. Between 1971 and 1990 as a group and individually, the Jazz Crusaders recorded more than 75 top selling albums containing classics like "Keep That Same Old Feeling," "Scratch," "Southern Comfort," "Tough Talk," and "Street Life" (featuring Randy Crawford).

As a leader Felder has enjoyed many successful outings. In 1980, Inherit the Wind went to number 4 on the Billboard jazz albums chart. 1985 found Secrets at number eight on the Top Jazz Albums of the year and number ten on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums of the year. In 1991 and 1993 both Nocturnal Moods and Forever, Always landed a spot at number 9 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart

Felder’s new release, Let’s Spend Some Time on BCS Records, scheduled for release in March of 2006, is sure to live up to the standards of the past releases. Let’s Spend Some Time begins the period with a smooth funky vamp entitled, "Smoke House." Felder’s full bodied saxophone sound sings the bluesy melody with trumpeter, George Shaw, providing commentary on flugelhorn. "Let’s Spend Some Time," the second track, continues the smooth sounds with bassist Chuck Raney thumping out the bottom sounds as Felder and Shaw play relaxed lines over the groove.

In fact, the majority of the 13 tracks on the album are set to a smooth funky groove, with Felder and Shaw giving commentary to each other with nice harmonic stabs and rhythmic accents provided by the rhythm section. This is not to say that the album sounds homogeneous, the compositions and orchestrations keep the time spent listening fresh and entertaining. Throughout the CD Felder’s soloing is always a study in space and saying something meaningful in a smooth, relaxed and bluesy manner.

The flow of the CD is varied and enjoyable, with some nice surprises. One nice surprise is the use of vocals; either as an added rhythmic pad or as rhythmic hits, demonstrated in "Ooh Whop, Doo Whop," and also as the lead voice telling a story as in "As Long As I’m With You." There is even a rap influenced moment with the cleverly worded track, "Information." All the vocal work was provided by vocalist A.J. Luke, with the exception of "Information," which was done by Felder. The overall mood of the release will contribute to spending time in the company of friends or a significant other.

Felder’s smooth soulful sound will surely delight the smooth jazz listener and provide the perfect ambiance for romance. Let’s Spend Some Time is a definite welcome to the smooth jazz catalogue.