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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.[1][2]

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)

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
Jazz Times	(favourable)[5]
Sun Herald	(favourable)[6]

Jazz Times stated "With moods playful to passionate and players in a relaxed goodtime frame of mind, it’s a perfect party disc."[5] 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."[6] 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."[4] Jonathan Widran of Allmusic called the album a "Maurice White-produced exercise in easy funk and potent, machine generated urban grooves."[3]

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

Album

Chart (1997)	Position
Billboard Heatseekers Albums	48
Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums	5[2]

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

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