Wilton Felder

Wilton Lewis Felder (born August 31, 1940, Houston, Texas) 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. The Jazz Crusaders evolved from a straight-ahead jazz combo into a pioneering jazz-rock fusion group, with a definite soul music influence. Felder worked with the original group for over thirty years, and continues to work in its current versions, which often feature other founding members.

Felder also worked as a West coast studio musician, mostly playing electric bass, for various soul and R&B musicians, and was one of the in-house bass players for Motown Records, when the record label opened up operations in Los Angeles, California, in the early 1970s. He played on recordings by the Jackson 5 such as "I Want You Back" and "The Love You Save," for Marvin Gaye and Grant Green. He has also played bass for soft rock groups like America and Seals and Crofts. Also of note was his contribution to the John Cale album, Paris 1919, and Billy Joel's Piano Man and Streetlife Serenade albums. He was one of three bass players on Randy Newman's Sail Away (1972) and Joan Baez Diamonds & Rust. Felder also anchored albums from Joni Mitchell and Michael Franks.

His solo album, Secrets, which prominently featured Bobby Womack on vocals, reached No. 77 in the UK Albums Chart in 1985. This album featured the minor hit, "(No Matter How High I Get) I'll Still be Looking Up to You", sung by Womack and Alltrinna Grayson.

Felder plays a King Super 20 tenor sax with a metal 105/0 Berg Larsen mouthpiece. He has also used Yamaha saxes. He plays a Fender Precision bass, and has also played Aria bass guitars.

Discography
Solo With John Cale With Dizzy Gillespie With Richard "Groove" Holmes With Milt Jackson With Grant Green With John Klemmer With Charles Kynard With Joni Mitchell With Jimmy Smith
 * Secrets (1985)
 * Paris 1919 (Reprise, 1972)
 * Free Ride (Pablo, 1977) composed and arranged by Lalo Schifrin
 * Welcome Home (World Pacific Jazz, 1968)
 * Memphis Jackson (Impulse!, 1969)
 * ''Shades of Green (Blue Note 1971)
 * Constant Throb (Impulse!, 1971)
 * Waterfalls (Impulse!, 1972)
 * Magic and Movement (Impulse!, 1974)
 * Reelin' with the Feelin' (Prestige, 1969)
 * For the Roses (Asylum, 1972)
 * Court and Spark (Asylum, 1974)
 * The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Asylum, 1975)
 * Root Down (Verve, 1972)