Urban Knights II
# Urban Knights II

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

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

## Charts

Album :

| Chart (1997) | Position |
| - | - |
| Billboard Heatseekers Albums | 48 |
| Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums | 5 |

## 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
