Joe Sample Biography

Fast Facts

• Began his music career with The Crusaders, then a hard bop group known as The Jazz Crusaders, in Texas in the late 1950s
• First gained success with The Crusaders during the early 1960s, when the band moved to Los Angeles and released their first album, "Freedom Sound," in 1961
• Quote: "There's a lot of prejudice against the various forms of music․ The jazz people hate the blues, the blues people hate rock․․․We tend to not hate any․․․so we blend it all together․․․[and] we're always finding ourselves in big trouble with everybody․"
• Quote: "You have to have the feel of the music․ If you don't feel this music, you won't ever be able to perform it․"
• Best known as a jazz musician and as the pianist for The Crusaders, whose hit songs included "Soul Shadows" and "Put It Where You Want It․"
• Was also a studio musician and worked on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," Tina Turner's "Private Dancer," and Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark․"
• Rapper Tupac Shakur sampled his song "In All My Wildest Dreams" in the song "Dear Mama․"
• Wrote and composed the song "One Day I'll Fly Away," which was sung by actress Nicole Kidman in the 2001 film "Moulin Rouge!"