One of the catches to the whole concept of “smooth jazz” is that sometimes its practitioners will back-burner any notions of audio-wallpaper propriety — and, if you’re lucky, they instead just lean headlong into some idiosyncratic idea of opulence that’s more energetic than polite. Grover Washington, Jr.’s mid-seventies crossover-smash era had a long lead time — his collaborations with arranger/producer/smooth-fusion figurehead Bob James date back to his sessions for 1971’s bandleader-debut Inner City Blues — so by the time he’s helming Feels So Good he’s got this natural-as-breathing ease to his soprano and tenor sax playing that still allows for a lot of rangy and surprising moments of expressiveness. “Knucklehead” and “Hydra” are cratedigger favorites for good reason, the juxtaposition of their funky elastic bounce and the rich orchestral depth evoking street-level cool and penthouse sophistication all at once (with the respective basslines of Gary King and Louis “Thunder Thumbs” Johnson providing a monster of a structure for Washington to melodically banter with). And while Washington’s technique does a good deal to embody the duality that comes with working in soul-jazz crossover — the oomph of a Maceo Parker to go with the improvisational flow of a Cannonball Adderley — Bob James’ arrangements do just as much to answer that call as, say, Quincy Jones’ soundtrack work, piling on the strings in ways that simultaneously evoke bygone big-band swagger and post-blaxploitation suspense-flick bombast.

– Nate Patrin