I was doing some research for my next deejay set (can't talk about it or I'll jinx it, me thinks) when I stumbled on this gem of gems. It's Johnny "Guitar" Watson covering Grover Washington Jr.'s monster hit, "Mr. Magic." Watson just destroys the original easy funk version. Don't get me wrong, I love the original, but Watson trumps the o.g. version. The band is hot as well. They play tight, dress sharp and follow every move Watson makes. If I were Grover and I saw this performance, I would have said, "Damn!!!" and hoped to never to share a bill with Watson.
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Johnny "guitar" Watson (1), Grover Washington Jr. (1), Mr. Magic (1)Recent Posts From Gomez Comes Alive!
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Doesn't he?
"Mr. Magic" is the source of the beat used in Washington D.C. Go-go music. However, this version is too uptempo for Go-go.
See http://www.sfbg.com/noise/44-01/chuk.html
The saxophone player is the singularly brilliant Paul Dunmall, who backed the Gangster of Love for a few years, primarily in bill-paying mode. Duns seems to have stashed his bagpipes and stuck mostly to tenor during his time with JGW, and no Mujician compositions made it onto their regular setlist, unfortunately.
That sax player looks like the dude from the Muppets' "Dr. Teeth" band.