Artist: Hank Crawford

Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. was an American alto saxophonist, pianist, arranger and songwriter whose genres ranged from R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, and soul jazz. Crawford was musical director for Ray Charles before embarking on a solo career releasing many well-regarded albums for labels such as Atlantic, CTI and Milestone. 

He credits Charlie Parker, Louis Jordan, Earl Bostic and Johnny Hodges as early influences. In 1958, Crawford went to college at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he majored in music theory and composition, as well as playing alto and baritone saxophone in the Tennessee State Jazz Collegians.

He also led his own rock 'n' roll quartet, "Little Hank and the Rhythm Kings". His bandmates all thought he looked and sounded just like Hank O'Day, a local saxophonist, which earned him the nickname "Hank".  This is when Crawford met Ray Charles, who hired Crawford originally as a baritone saxophonist.  Crawford switched to alto in 1959, and remained with Charles' band — becoming its musical director until 1963. 

When Crawford left Ray Charles in 1963 to form his own septet, he had already established himself with several albums for Atlantic Records. From 1960 until 1970, he recorded twelve LPs for the label, many while balancing his earlier duties as Ray's director. He released such pre-crossover hits as "Misty", "The Peeper", "Whispering Grass", and "Shake-A-Plenty". 

He also has done musical arrangement for Etta James, Lou Rawls, and others. Much of his career has been in R&B, but in the 1970s he had several successful jazz albums, with I Hear a Symphony  reaching 11 on Billboard's Jazz albums list and 159 for Pop albums.