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Overall****+: Shortly following the commercially disappointing, yet still outstanding Faces album from 1980, Maurice White
decided to put his forces into the recording studio to begin recording EW&F's next album. Still not before, long time
guitarist Al McKay decided to quit and pursue production opportunities. White replaced McKay with Roland Bautista (See: Last
Days and Time).
For this album, EW&F used a more aggressive sound to attract the masses. The album titled "Raise" was complete
with synthesizers, vocoders and synth drums. Guitars, bass, drums, horns and strings were also included but streamlined. The
first single "Lets Groove" came across as the biggest EW&F single ever (Not the best song) and catapulted the
group to the top of the R&B charts and nearly the top of the pop charts. Fast paced material dominated both sides as EW&
F used a multitude of newer music styles, most likely because the music industry was undergoing a major change in the early
1980's. What made this album special was that EW&F managed to remain true enough for their base of fans to recognize it
was them. This album contained several standouts and served as a vehicle to show that EW&F was back with a vengeance!
MUSICIANS: Bill Reichenbach Jr.:Trombone, David Foster: Keyboards, Arnold Belnick: Violin, Michael Boddicker: Synthesizer,
Keyboards, Vocals, George Bohannon: Trombone, Mari Botnick: Violin, Oscar Brashear: Trumpet, Denyse Buffum: Violin, Thomas
Buffum: Violin, Larry Corbett: Cello, Paulinho Da Costa: Percussion, Henry Ferber: Violin, Chuck Findley: Trumpet, Ronald
Folsom: Violin, Frederick Seykora: Cello, Irving Geller: Violin, Pamela Goldsmith: Viola, Endre Granat: Violin, Gary Grant:
Trumpet, Allan Harshman: Viola, Marlo Henderson: Guitar, Jerry Hey: Trumpet, Reginald Hill: Violin, Paula Hochhalter: Cello,
Larry Hull:Trumpet, Richard Hyde: Trombone, William Hymanson: Violin, Myra Kestenbaum: Violin, Jerome Kessler: Cello, William
Kurasch: Violin, Betty LaMagna: Violin, Brian Leonard: Violin, Marvin Limonick: Violin, Charles Loper: Trombone, Virginia
Majewski: Viola, Lew McCreary: Trombone, Billy Myers: Keyboards, Gareth "Garry" Nuttycombe: Viola, Jerome Reisler:
Violin, Marilyn Robinson: Horn, Nathan Ross: Violin, Sheldon Sanov: Violin, Tom Saviano: Saxophone, Haim Shtrum: Violin, Beloyd
Taylor: Guitar, Vocals, Wayne Vaughn: Keyboards, John Wittenberg: Violin, Alan DeVeritch: Viola, Dick Hyde: Trombone, Billy
Meyers: Keyboards, Mary Louise Zeyen: Cello, Anton Sen: Violin, Arkady Shindelman:Violin, Selene Burford: Cello, Gary E. Grant: Trumpet,
Norman Leonard:Violin, Ms. Pluto:Vocals, Larry Hall: Trumpet,
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