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Urban Knights II
Studio album by Urban Knights
Released	April 8, 1997
Recorded	1996
Genre	Jazz
Length	49:50
Label	GRP
Producer	Maurice White
Urban Knights chronology
Urban Knights I (1995) Urban Knights II (1997) Urban Knights III (2000)

Urban Knights II is an album by the Urban Knights which was issued in 1997 on GRP Records. The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Los Angeles Times
Jazz Times	(favourable)
Sun Herald	(favourable)

Jazz Times stated "With moods playful to passionate and players in a relaxed goodtime frame of mind, it’s a perfect party disc." Don Adderton of the Sun Herald wrote "When you surround a master artist with a strong supporting cast, usually great things happen. On this second outing, Ramsey Lewis scores big on Urban Knights II (GRP)." Adderton added "Still the master craftsman, Lewis leads this all-star aggregation rampaging into funk, jazz, rhythm-and-blues and Latin-flavored ballads." Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times found that "The music that results can perhaps best be described as rhythm & jazz--bits and pieces of improvising from Lewis and the horn players juxtaposed against insistent, funk-driven rhythms. South African Butler, especially on the tracks in which he sings (“South African Jam” and “Brazilian Rain,” especially), brings a seductive world-music ambience to the proceedings." Jonathan Widran of Allmusic called the album a "Maurice White-produced exercise in easy funk and potent, machine generated urban grooves."

Track listing

1. "Scirroco" (Meyers, White) – 4:03
2. "Get Up" (Lewis, Lewis, Randolph) – 3:47
3. "Come Dance with Me" (Boyd, Lewis, Randolph) – 4:01
4. "South African Jam" (Butler) – 4:51
5. "Brazilian Rain" (Emory, Pleasure) – 4:19
6. "Interlude #1" (Lewis) – 0:35
7. "Summer Nights" (Meyers, Randolph, White) – 5:32
8. "Tell Me Why" (Butler, Meyers, Williams) – 4:19
9. "Urban Paradise" (Lewis, Lewis, Randolph) – 4:23
10. "Drama" (Cornwell, Guillaume, Hawkins, Jones) – 3:47
11. "Step by Step" (Lewis, Lewis, Randolph) – 4:01
12. "The Promise" (Meyers, Vannelli, White) – 4:10
13. "Interlude #2" (Lewis) – 2:02
14. "Dawn" (Randolph) – 4:38

Charts

Personnel

• Gerald Albright – soprano saxophone
• Najee – flute, saxophone, soprano saxophone
• Frayne Lewis – keyboards
• Ramsey Lewis – piano, electric piano
• Mike Logan – keyboards
• Bill Meyers – synthesizer, backing vocals, Fender Rhodes
• Jimi Randolph – synthesizer
• Kevin Randolph – keyboards, synthesizer bass
• Jonathan Butler – guitar, vocals, backing vocals
• Sheldon Reynolds – guitar, backing vocals
• Morris Pleasure – bass
• Chuck Webb – bass
• Verdine White – bass
• Sonny Emory – drums
• Tony Carpenter – percussion
• Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
• Karen Boyd – backing vocals
• Carl Carwell – backing vocals
• Theresa Davis – backing vocals
• Valerie Mayo – backing vocals
• Maurice White – backing vocals

References

1. Urban Knights: Urban Knights II. GRP Records. 1997.
2. ^ "Urban Knights: Urban Knights II (Top Contemporary Jazz Albums)". billboard.com. Billboard. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019.
3. ^ Widran, Johnathan. "Urban Knights II". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
4. ^ Heckman, Don (May 25, 1997). "Smooth Sale-ing Ahead in the Contemporary Arena". Los Angeles Times.
5. ^ "Urban Knights: Urban Knights II". jazztimes.com. Jazz Times. September 12, 1997.
6. ^ Adderton, Don (May 16, 1997). "AZIMUTH TAKES ADVANTAGE OF VOCALS". newsbank.com. Sun Herald.

• 1997 albums
• Albums produced by Maurice White
• Urban Knights albums
• GRP Records albums