Alex Henderson

Norman Connors
Invitation  [Expanded Edition] 

When Buddah Records released Invitation in 1979, Norman Connors was catering to a much different audience than the audience he had catered to earlier in his career. The Philadelphia-born drummer had a strong jazz background that included performing on tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp’s The Magic of Ju-Ju album (which was released by Impulse Records in 1967) and appearing on Impulse releases by Pharoah Sanders and the late Sam Rivers (two other major-league tenor saxmen) in the early 1970s. Connors was a jazz drummer from a city that gave us world class jazz drummers like Philly Joe Jones, Mickey Roker and Bobby Durham, and his early albums as a leader (including Dance of Magic in 1972, Dark of Light in 1973 and Love from the Sun and Slewfoot in 1974) were jazz-oriented. But with the success of “Valentine Love” in 1975 and “You Are My Starship” (a #4 hit on Billboard’s R&B singles chart), “We Both Need Each Other” (a #23 R&B hit) and “Betcha By Golly Wow” (which reached #29 R&B in Billboard) in 1976, Connors successfully made the transition from full-time jazz instrumentalist to R&B star. Those romantic quiet storm hits brought Connors an abundance of new fans, and many of them didn’t necessarily know about his jazz credentials. They knew him for R&B, which is the primary focus of Invitation.

Unlike Roy Ayers, George Duke, George Benson and Patrice Rushen—other jazz instrumentalists who reinvented themselves as R&B stars in the 1970s—Connors didn’t do a great deal of singing. Connors did sing occasionally, but he put most of his energy into playing the drums, producing and songwriting. And he usually let others do the lead singing, including Michael Henderson and Jean Carn on their “Valentine Love” duet, Henderson on “You Are My Starship” and Henderson and the late Phyllis Hyman on “We Both Need Each Other” (another classic male/female vocal duet that Connors oversaw). Hyman was also featured on “Betcha By Golly Wow,” which was highly appropriate given that she was from Philadelphia and the Thom Bell/Linda Creed gem had been a huge hit for the Stylistics (one of the 1970s’ top Philly soul groups) in 1972.

But in 1979, Henderson and Hyman were busy with their solo careers—certainly, the success they had enjoyed with Connors did a lot to help them get their solo careers off the ground—and the singers that Connors features on Invitation include Al Johnson and the Chicago-born Ada Dyer, a.k.a. Miss Adaritha. Both of them do their part to help Connors give the album some quiet storm appeal: Johnson’s quiet storm skills are displayed on the opener “Your Love” (which was released as a single), while Dyer’s are put to work on ballads that include “Handle Me Gently” and the title song.  Connors contributes some background vocals to this album, which he produced. But he leaves the lead vocals for others, especially Dyer.

Listeners who do know about Connor’s jazz background might assume that the title track is the haunting Bronislau Kaper standard, which was used as the theme for the 1950 movie A Life of Her Own (starring Lana Turner) and has been recorded by countless jazz instrumentalists over the years. The “Invitation” heard on this reissue, however, is a different song: a lush quiet storm ballad.

But not everything on Invitation falls into the quiet storm category. In 1979, disco was huge—1979 was the year that gave us disco-soul classics such as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” Chic’s “Good Times,” Deniece Williams’ “I’ve Got the Next Dance” and Sister Sledge’s “He’s the Greatest Dancer”—and Connors goes for maximum disco appeal with Dyer’s energetic performance on the exuberant “Disco Land.” Dyer (who went on to record some solo albums for Motown Records in the 1980s) also brings a great deal of energy to the funky “Together” and the hopeful “Be There in the Morning.” There is plenty of funkiness on the gritty “Kingston” as well.

The fact that Connors deemphasized jazz in the late 1970s doesn’t mean he abandoned it altogether, and Invitation contains a few laid-back jazz instrumentals even though R&B is the album’s main focus. One of them is “I Have a Dream,” which pianist/keyboardist Herbie Hancock unveiled on his 1969 release The Prisoner and wrote in memory of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. (who had been assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968). Connors’ 1979 version of “I Have a Dream” boasts some inspired soloing from jazz trumpeter Eddie Henderson.

Invitation moves into Brazilian jazz territory with a performance of guitarist Toninho Horta’s “Beijo Partido” (which means “Broken Kiss” in Portuguese). Horta is an important figure in Brazilian music—he has played with Milton Nascimento, Gal Costa, Flora Purim, Elis Regina, Sergio Méndes and many other Brazilian stars—and “Beijo Partido” is one of his most famous compositions. Ralph “Buzzy” Jones, who was part of Connors’ Starship Orchestra in the late 1970s, takes an inspired soprano saxophone solo on Connors’ version.

FunkyTownGrooves’ 2013 reissue of Invitation contains two bonus tracks: the 7” single version of “Your Love” and the 1981 single “She’s Gone,” a smooth Nigel Martinez song that shouldn’t be confused with Daryl Hall & John Oates’ 1974 smash. “She’s Gone” was included on Connors’ Mr. C album of 1981.

Invitation was Connors’ last album of the 1970s; his next album, Take It to the Limit, came out in 1980. And when one looks back on the Philadelphian’s 1970s output, it is interesting to see how much he changed stylistically during that decade. Connors started out the 1970s as a hardcore jazz instrumentalist, and when the decade ended, many of the fans he had been acquiring from 1975 on thought of him as an R&B-oriented artist who might include a jazz instrumental or two on his albums if he were so inclined.  Hardcore jazz collectors still associated Connor’s name with Pharoah Sanders, Sam Rivers and Archie Shepp, while his R&B listeners thought of him as the man who helped turn Michael Henderson and Phyllis Hyman into major soul stars. And for those R&B listeners, Connors ended the decade on a pleasing note with Invitation.

—Alex Henderson, August 2013

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, JazzTimes, Jazziz, AlterNet, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) has also contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and series of music reference books.