The Soulful Strings

The Soulful Strings were an American soul-jazz instrumental group formed in Chicago in 1966. Predominantly a studio band, the project was created and led by Richard Evans, a staff producer and musical arranger with the Chess Records subsidiary Cadet Records. The group comprised various members of Cadet's house band – such as Phil Upchurch (on guitar), Charles Stepney (organ, vibraphone), Lenny Druss (flute), Cleveland Eaton (bass, cello), Morris Jennings (drums), Bobby Christian (vibraphone, percussion) and, later, Billy Wooten, in place of Stepney. Sol Bobrov and Bruce Hayden were among the eponymous string players. Other contributors included Johnny Griffith and Donny Hathaway, both on keyboards, and jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby. Between 1966 and 1971, the Soulful Strings released six studio albums, all recorded at Chess's Ter Mar Studios, and one live album. This period coincided with the peak of Cadet Records' influence, during which Green continued to produce other acts, including Ashby, Woody Herman and Marlena Shaw. Simultaneously, Stepney – often assisted by Upchurch, Christian and Jennings – also worked with the group Rotary Connection, recording for Chess's Cadet Concept label. As of October 2014, the Strings' catalog remained out of print, although their biggest US hit, "Burning Spear", was included on the 2004 Chess compilation Chicago Soul.