feature photo: Shane Sakanoi
Several times a year going back to the late ’70s, I find myself reaching for one of The Crusaders’ twin masterpieces, The Second Crusade (1973) and Southern Comfort (1974). These and other records they made throughout the decade are the perfect brew of soul, funk and jazz.
Apparently, L.A.-based keyboardist Kiefer digs these records, too. The Grammy-winning producer is poised to release his third LP on August 27, 2021 and for now, we have an advance track – the title song – from that album, which is a cut from Southern Comfort, “When There’s Love Around.”
“When There’s Love Around” was composed by founding Crusaders’ drummer Stix Hooper, a funk monster if there ever was one. However, he’s also underrated as a songwriter – probably because he was in the same band as the more prolific Joe Sample – but he showed during their peak period that he could more than hold his own and “When There’s Love Around” is one of his soul poems that only sounds better with age. For someone who knows his way around both the RnB and jazz worlds well like Kiefer, a song like this is musical bliss.
A replication of Larry Carlton’s dirty guitar intro isn’t there but Wilton Felder’s interesting counter harmony bass line is, which is a key element to the song’s arrangement. The entwined blending of synthesizer and electric piano gives the song a groovy vibe that even the original lacked. Kiefer’s Rhodes solo is where he really puts his own mark on the song, starting out laid back and getting funkier with each bar. Mainly though, this version is about amplifying the beauty of that riff, exemplified by Kiefer playing it on acoustic piano at the end.
Kiefer’s satisfying rendering of a Crusaders’ classic-era tune can serve as a fine entry point to the sublimity of the Crusaders as well as the perfect introduction to Kiefer’s next album. When There’s Love Around is coming courtesy of Stones Throw Records.
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