Urban Knights V

Urban Knights V is the sixth album by the jazz group Urban Knights released in 2003 on Narada Records. The album reached No. 15 on the US Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and No. 7 on the US Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

Overview

Urban Knights V was executively produced by Ramsey Lewis. Artists such as Kenny Garrett and Michelle Williams appeared on the album.
The Urban Knights covered Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up", Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" and Chicago's "Will You Still Love Me?" on the album.

Critical reception

Lucy Tauss of JazzTimes remarked "Urban Knights V...showcases burgeoning Chicago talent as well as well-established members of the jazz community."
Adam Greenburg of AllMusic lauded the album saying, "As far as smooth jazz goes, this is an outstanding collection from the all-stars of the genre, complete with some thoroughly worked-out funkiness at the hands of Lewis as the need arises....Both newcomers to the genre or old Ramsey Lewis fans should give it a listen."
Rick Nowlin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette took note that, "This band, so to speak -- I put it that way because of the rotating personnel -- is a long-running side project for Chicago- based producer Frayne Lewis, who brought this talent together. Of course, having his father, pianist Ramsey, in the fold makes for good listening."