Children of the Sun honours Caribbean influences on Joe Sample and The Crusaders

Last year wasn't a good one for former members of The Crusaders. Trombonist Wayne Henderson and pianist Joe Sample died, leaving saxophonist/bassist Wilton Felder and drummer Stix Hooper as the only survivors of the original line-up. Joe Cocker, who died in December, was one of their guest vocalists.

Although Henderson left the band in 1975, he revived the name of the Jazz Crusaders - as they were called when founded in 1961 - for a few projects in the 1990s, and the other three reasserted their rights to The Crusaders moniker with the 2003 album Rural Renewal.

But generally, from the early 1990s onward, Sample concentrated on a solo career, collaborative projects with artists such as Randy Crawford and Lalah Hathaway, and high-profile sessions.

Sample was a popular artist, so it's likely record companies are checking their vaults for more music that can be issued posthumously.

The last project he was able to complete personally, before his death from lung cancer last September aged 75, is now available on CD and through iTunes.

Children of the Sun is probably not the sort of album many of Sample's admirers would have expected. Although he did occasionally work with large ensembles - the live 1981 Crusaders' album Royal Jam featuring B.B. King and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is one example - he was mostly associated with funky small-group jazz and R&B.

Sample scored this music for the NDR Bigband, which commissioned it, and performed it live in Europe with the band in 2011. Some clips can be seen on YouTube. Inspiration came from a visit to the Caribbean island of St Croix in 1995. He took a hike up a steep hill, and while looking out to sea started thinking about the island's history in the slave trade.