The Crusaders & the tradition of jazz tenor saxophonists from Texas

I am writing in this post about another of my favorite jazz fusion bands, The Crusaders.  They actually started as a hard bop band in the 1960s called The Jazz Crusaders.  But, it wasn't until the '70s during the jazz fusion era that they started hitting their stride.  Most of their members came from Houston, Texas.  The lineup in the '70s included tenor saxophonist Wilton Felder, trombonist Wayne Henderson, Larry Carlton on guitar (who was also doing solo work and work with Steely Dan at the time), Stix Hooper on drums and Joe Sample on keyboards (primarily Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos).  Joe Sample and Wilton Felder were friends going back to before the band even began.

Their well known albums came in a string between 1974 and 1979.  These include:

"Southern Comfort" 1974
"Scratch" 1974 (a live record)
"Chain Reaction" 1975
"Those Southern Knights" 1976
"Free As The Wind" 1977
"Street Life" 1979

Each album is similar and yet different.  "Street Life" (the title cut off the 1979 record) was their most commercially successful song and album, with Randy Crawford on lead vocals for the title track.  The Crusaders have a sound that draws less on grandiose and sonically stratospheric sounds of some other fusion bands like Return To Forever or Mahavishnu Orchestra.  They are more of a rhythm & blues band.  ...And, Wilton Felder follows in a tradition of sorts regarding tenor saxophonists who have come out of Texas. 

Some of these players include Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb, Buddy Tate, James Clay, David "Fathead" Newman and John Coltrane.  Wilton Felder is relevant to that category.  Here is a link to an article on the influence of the tenor saxophone as far as the style of playing.  The article is dated from 2007. 

http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-01-25/music/music/texas-tenors-times-two/

This is a footnote.  The Crusaders have had slightly revised lineups over the years including an album in the 1990s as the Jazz Crusaders where Felder and Hendrson played with another group of musicians not including Joe Sample.  More recently, they released a record in 2003 called "Rural Renewal" including Sample, Felder, Steve Baxter (another Houston native) on trombone, Freddie Washington on bass and Ray Parker Jr. (of "Ghostbusters" fame) on guitar.  They are a great band.  Check them out.