Why this tune?
This week’s tune is the product of a dream team of musical talent that crafted a #2 hit single and a standard of the R&B repertoire. “Just the Two of Us” was written by Bill Withers, William Salter, and Ralph MacDonald, and recorded by Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers for Washington’s 1980 album Winelight. Withers was an R&B legend responsible for “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me” and other hits. MacDonald wrote the classics “Where Is the Love” and “Mister Magic,” which also became a hit for Grover Washington.
The Wikipedia entry for the song credits it and Washington’s album for kicking off the smooth jazz “explosion” in the 1980s, the updated version of “easy listening” music programmed on radio stations across the country.
I recorded my short version on my trusty Yamaha Reface keyboard during our final week in Washington, DC, where we’re completing the last steps in our move to St Croix in the US Virgin Islands. That’s what was available after I donated my piano to a friend and packed most of my other gear for the move.
There is a Caribbean connection in this week’s tune; Wikipedia reports that Ralph MacDonald’s father came from Trinidad and Tobago, and that MacDonald traveled frequently to the islands in his later years, playing steelpan in local groups.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
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Grover Washington, Jr. and Bill Withers
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 