Grover Washington, Jr. - Winelight (LP) - Chardonnay Vinyl

Winelight is one of those records you can drop the needle on at any hour and the room just settles into focus. Released in 1980 on Elektra, it’s the moment where Grover Washington, Jr. found a sweet spot between jazz finesse and radio polish without sanding off his personality. People remember the smash single with Bill Withers, of course, but the magic of this album runs deeper than one hit. The title track glides in on satin keys and that famously singing soprano tone, and suddenly you’re in the back booth of a late-night lounge, ice cubes clinking while the band breathes as one.

We should talk about that single though. Just the Two of Us became a cultural fixture for a reason. Withers delivers a gently conversational vocal that never pretends to be anything other than human, and Grover replies with a solo that understands the value of space. The melody is so immediate you might forget how carefully it’s built, with guitar and Fender Rhodes tucked into place like joinery. It climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981, and the songwriting team of Withers, Ralph MacDonald, and William Salter took home the Grammy for Best R&B Song. The album itself was honored too, winning the Grammy for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1982. Those trophies matter because they tell you how fully Winelight crossed lines. It made quiet storm radio feel worldly, and it gave jazz listeners a record they could play for friends who didn’t think they liked jazz yet.

The rest of the album stands tall. Winelight, the opener, is a master class in control. Grover plays soprano like a voice, letting phrases taper and bloom. Then there’s Let It Flow (For Dr. J), a heartfelt salute to Julius Erving that nods to Grover’s Philadelphia ties and to the glide of Sixers-era hoops. It has bounce and poise, set over a groove that feels like it could keep circling the block all night. Make Me a Memory (Sad Samba) closes the record with a bittersweet pull that fans cherish, a tenor feature that hints at the CTI years while embracing the warmer Elektra palette. Even the mid-tempo gems, Take Me There and In the Name of Love, carry that elegant ease that turned this into a living room staple.

Part of the album’s lure is the band. Grover surrounds himself with a deep New York crew, and you can hear the chemistry. Richard Tee’s electric piano shimmers and nudges in all the right places. Eric Gale’s guitar is tasteful and conversational, a reminder that restraint can be its own kind of fire. Marcus Miller’s bass lines have that youthful spring he brought to so many sessions at the turn of the decade, and Steve Gadd locks the drum pocket with uncanny lightness. Ralph MacDonald, a co-writer of the big single, colors the whole record with percussion that feels like a heartbeat. It’s a versatile lineup made to serve songs rather than shred for its own sake.

Audiophiles still chase the Winelight vinyl because this music loves the analog canvas. The Rhodes glows, the bass sits warm and round, and Grover’s horn has breath and grain that streams can flatten. You will see crate diggers light up when a clean copy comes in, especially if the sleeve still shows that iconic wine-glass cover without ring wear. If you like to buy Grover Washington Jr. records online, keep an eye out for well-pressed reissues that preserve the dynamics. And if you wander into a Melbourne record store while browsing vinyl records Australia for a weekend spin, this is one to pull from the jazz-soul bin on sight. It’s also a perfect gateway if you’re building a small stack of Grover Washington Jr. albums on vinyl.

What makes Winelight endure is how it respects the listener’s time. The hooks are immediate, but the details reward you on the tenth play. Grover doesn’t grandstand. He sings through the horn, answers the band, then steps back. The pacing is unhurried. The production swaddles everything in a warm glow without turning it to syrup. Pop fans came for Just the Two of Us and stayed because the rest of the record kept their shoulders loose. Jazz fans embraced it because the playing is savvy and the melodies stick. Four decades on, it still works the same spell.

If you stumble across a tidy Winelight vinyl in the wild, do not overthink it. Take it home, queue it up at golden hour, and let those first notes pour out. That is Grover Washington, Jr. at his most welcoming, showing how generous cool can feel.