1981 · Album
Voices in the Rain
Recorded 1981 · Elektra Records · Produced by Joe Sample
A Solo Statement After Years in the Crusaders
Sample steps out front with a keyboard-led session that proves he's a composer and bandleader, not just a sideman.
By 1981, Joe Sample had spent two decades as a founding member of The Crusaders, anchoring their sound with organ and electric piano. Voices in the Rain marks his moment as a solo artist and bandleader—not a departure from that group, but a fuller expression of what he'd been building inside it. The album gathers a first-rate ensemble: Abraham Laboriel on bass, Stix Hooper on drums (his Crusaders bandmate), Jerry Hey on trumpet, Nika Rejto on flute, and guests including Ray Brown and L. Subramaniam on violin. Sample's writing here is assured and melodic, favoring clean grooves and horn arrangements over the heavier fusion textures that were dominating jazz fusion at the time.
The session leans into contemporary soul-jazz territory—tight, radio-friendly, with R&B undercurrents that feel organic rather than forced. Sample's keyboards remain the gravitational center, but he's careful not to hog the space; the horns breathe, the rhythm section locks in, and the arrangements let each voice matter. It's professional, well-crafted work that announces Sample as a legitimate solo presence without abandoning the accessibility that made The Crusaders successful in the first place.
This is a solid career move—not a reinvention, but a confirmation. If you already respect Sample's work with The Crusaders, this shows why he earned his place there. It's not the album that defined his legacy, but it's the one where you hear him stepping into his own.
Who's playing
Abraham Laborielbass
Ray Browndouble bass
John Collinsguitar
Dean Parksguitar
Jerry Heytrumpet
Nika Rejtoflute
Stix Hooperdrums
Paulinho da Costapercussion
Joe Samplekeyboard
L. Subramaniamviolin
Where next?
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
