Reception

The Allmusic review by Jim Newsom

One of the tastiest concoctions of the mid-'70s jazz-fusion era, Chain Reaction finds the Crusaders at the top of their form. The compositions are both accessible and memorable, and the playing is uniformly excellent. Guitarist Larry Carlton delivers some of his finest licks and funkified rhythm work. Wayne Henderson shows there is a place in fusion for the trombone. Wilton Felder does double duty, delivering smoking saxophone lines and funky bass riffs. Joe Sample's Fender Rhodes piano provides a solid chordal foundation and great solos. And the stickman, Stix Hooper, keeps the groove solid. The band employs a variety of rhythms and tempos, and gives the members plenty of room to strut their individual and collective stuff. In fact, "collective" may be the key word here, for this is the sound of a band, not just a group of guys thrown together for a recording session. Chain Reaction was one of the albums that helped lure young, rock and soul-oriented listeners over to check out the jazz side, and should not be missed by those interested in the more accessible, funky side of fusion.

Track listing

1. Creole 3:25
2. Chain Reaction 5:35
3. I Felt The Love 2:28
4. Mellow Out 2:44
5. Rainbow Visions 6:15
6. Hallucinate 5:08
7. Give It Up 2:56
8. Hot's It 3:50
9. Sugar Cane 2:31
10. Soul Caravan 5:30

Personnel

• Wayne Henderson
  Wayne Henderson (musician)
  Wayne Henderson is a soul-jazz and hard bop trombonist and record producer. In 1961, he co-founded the soul jazz/hard bop group The Jazz Crusaders...
  
   - Trombone
• Wilton Felder
  Wilton Felder
  Wilton Lewis Felder is both a saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of The Crusaders, initially called the Jazz Crusaders. Felder, Wayne Henderson, Joe Sample, and Stix Hooper founded the group while in high school in Houston...
  
   - Bass, Saxophone
• Joe Sample
  Joe Sample
  Joseph Leslie "Joe" Sample is an American pianist, keyboard player and composer.He is one of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders, the band which became simply The Crusaders in 1971, and remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991 .- Biography :Sample began playing the piano...
  
   - Keyboards
• Stix Hooper
  Stix Hooper
  Nesbert "Stix" Hooper is an American soul jazz/hard bop jazz drummer born in Houston, Texas, probably best known for founding his group The Swingsters, which later became known as The Jazz Crusaders.-References:...
  
   - Drums
• Larry Carlton
  Larry Carlton
  Larry Carlton is an American jazz, smooth jazz, jazz fusion, pop, and rock guitarist and singer. He has divided his recording time between solo recordings and session appearances with various well-known bands...
  
   - Guitar

Charts

Year	Album	Chart positions
		US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...	Jazz Albums
1975	Chain Reaction Chain Reaction (The Crusaders album) -Reception:The Allmusic review by Jim NewsomOne of the tastiest concoctions of the mid-'70s jazz-fusion era, Chain Reaction finds the Crusaders at the top of their form. The compositions are both accessible and memorable, and the playing is uniformly excellent. Guitarist Larry Carlton delivers some...	26	9	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions
		US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	US Dance
1975	"Creole"	—	84	—

External links

• Crusaders-Chain Reaction at Discogs