''Invitation'' is a 1993 album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Joe Sample released through Warner Bros. Records. It contains reinterpretations (

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

s) of

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

compositions written by artists such as

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

, among others (as listed in parentheses in the track list). ''Invitation'' is more of a jazz/ classical crossover album with

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

l arrangements by Dale Oehler. In 1993, ''Invitation'' reached No. 1 in the Top Jazz Albums chart and No. 43 in the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in ''Billboard'' magazine. On the top albums chart, it peaked at No. 194.[]

Track listing

# "Black Is the Colour (Of My True Love's Hair), Black Is the Color" (Traditional folk song) - 3:53 # "A House Is Not a Home (song), A House Is Not a Home" (

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David was born and raised in New ...

) - 4:57 # "

Come Rain or Come Shine "Come Rain or Come Shine" is a popular music song and jazz standard with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was written for the Broadway musical '' St. Louis Woman'', which opened on March 30, 1946, and closed after 113 perfor ...

" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

, Johnny Mercer) - 5:07 # " Invitation" ( Bronisław Kaper) - 4:21 # " Summertime" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

DuBose Heyward Edwin DuBose Heyward (August 31, 1885 – June 16, 1940) was an American author best known for his 1925 novel '' Porgy''. He and his wife Dorothy, a playwright, adapted it as a 1927 play of the same name. The couple worked with composer Georg ...

, Dorothy Heyward) - 6:49 # " Nica's Dream" (

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

) - 5:20 # " Stormy Weather" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) - 5:01 # " Django" (

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

) - 3:45 # " My One and Only Love" (

Guy Wood Guy B. Wood (24 July 1911 – 23 February 2001) was a musician and songwriter born in Manchester, England. Wood started his career in music playing saxophone in dance bands in England. He moved to the United States in the 1930s, where he worked f ...

, Robert Mellin) - 6:12 # "

Mood Indigo "Mood Indigo" is a jazz song with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard and lyrics by Irving Mills. Composition Although Irving Mills—Jack Mills's brother and publishing partner—took credit for the lyrics, Mitchell Parish claimed in a ...

" (Duke Ellington,

Barney Bigard Albany Leon "Barney" Bigard (March 3, 1906 – June 27, 1980) was an American jazz clarinetist known for his 15-year tenure with Duke Ellington. He also played tenor saxophone. Biography Bigard was born in New Orleans to Creoles of color, Cr ...

Irving Mills Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 18, 1894 Odessa, Ukraine – April 21, 1985) was a music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz promoter. He often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal life Mills ...

) - 4:26

Personnel

* Joe Sample – grand piano, synthesizers, rhythm arrangements * Larry Williams – synthesizer programming *

Cecil McBee Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of classic jazz albums. Biography Early life and career McBee was b ...

–

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* Victor Lewis – drums * Lenny Castro – percussion * Dale Oehler – orchestra arrangements and conductor * Emile Charlap – orchestra contractor

Production

* Tommy LiPuma – producer * Angelo Montrone – assistant producer * Al Schmitt – recording, mixing * Chris Albert – second engineer * Robert Smith – second engineer * Bruce Miller – additional engineer * Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California) * Deborah Silverman-Kern – production coordinator * Greg Ross – art direction, design * Tom Tavee – photo portraits * Douglas Brothers – main photography * Joe Sample – liner notes * Patrick Rains & Associates – management

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 1993 albums Joe Sample albums Albums produced by Tommy LiPuma Warner Records albums Albums recorded at Power Station