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         JOE SAMPLE WAS BORN JOSEPH LESLIE IN HOUSTON, TEXAS ON 
         FEBRUARY 1ST, 1939.  HIS EARLY INFLUENCES INCLUDED 
         EVERYTHING FROM GOSPEL, LATIN AND ZYDECO TO TRADITIONAL 
         JAZZ, CLASSICAL AND BLUES.  SAMPLE SAYS HE SPENT MUCH OF
         HIS CHILDHOOD CHECKING OUT THE NEW RELEASES AT THE LOCAL
         RECORD STORE.    

         "IN THOSE PARTICULAR DAYS YOU COULD GO DOWN TO A RECORD 
         STORE AND THEY HAD THE LITTLE BOOTHS AT THAT TIME, AND 
         YOU COULD SIT DOWN AND ACTUALLY PLAY THE RECORDS AND YOU
         COULD LISTEN TO THEM.  FORTUNATELY, I HAD A PAPER ROUTE 
         AND ALL THAT SO I BOUGHT A LOT OF RECORDS, AND I'D SIT 
         DOWN AND I WOULD LISTEN TO THESE RECORDS.  AND ALSO, WE 
         HAD THE JUKEBOXES IN THOSE PARTICULAR DAYS.  I THINK IT 
         WAS A NICKLE AND THEN IT WENT UP TO A DIME.  BUT I HAVE 
         PARTICULAR SONGS ON THE JUKEBOXES I ALWAYS LOVED."

         AFTER A THREE-YEAR STINT AT TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, 
         SAMPLE TEAMED UP WITH SAXOPHONIST WILTON FELDER AND 
         DRUMMER STIX HOOPER TO FORM A JAZZ TRIO CALLED THE 
         SWINGSTERS.  WITH THE ADDITION OF TROMBONIST WAYNE 
         HENDERSON, THE BAND BECAME THE MODERN JAZZ SEXTET.  
         LATER THEY WERE THE NIGHTHAWKS, THEN THE JAZZ CRUSADERS,
         AND FINALLY THE CRUSADERS.  SAMPLE COMPOSED THE MUSIC 
         FOR MANY OF THEIR BEST-KNOWN SONGS, INCLUDING "CHAIN 
         REACTION," "PUT IT WHERE YOU WANT IT," AND THE TOP 40 
         POP HIT "STREET LIFE."  

         WHILE WORKING WITH THE CRUSADERS, JOE SAMPLE WAS AN 
         ACTIVE SESSION MUSICIAN, APPEARING ON RECORDINGS BY 
         STEELY DAN, JONI MITCHELL, RONNIE LAWS, AND TOM SCOTT.  
         HE SAYS GREAT MOTOWN ARTISTS LIKE DIANA ROSS AND THE 
         JACKSON FIVE ALWAYS KEPT HIM BUSY.

          "I USED TO DO A NUMBER OF THE MOTOWN DATES.  AT ONE 
          TIME I WAS A SESSION MUSICIAN AND MY ROLE WAS ACTUALLY 
          TO GO IN AND MAKE A RECORD.  AND MOST OF THE TIME IT 
          WAS TO BACK UP VOCALS."

          "THAT SOUND I GET OUT OF THE PIANO ACTUALLY COMES FROM 
          A FULL RANGE OF DYNAMICS AND ALSO THE STRENGTH.  IN 
          OTHER WORDS, IN ORDER TO PLAY SOMETHING VERY, VERY SOFT
          FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME ON A CONCERT GRAND PIANO, I 
          NEED A LOT OF POWER AND ALSO THE DEXTERITY AND 
          STRENGTH.  OTHERWISE MY MUSCLES...THEY SIMPLY WOULD 
          CRAMP UP ON ME."  

          JOE SAMPLE'S EXTENSIVE CAREER INCLUDES MORE THAN TWENTY
          ALBUMS WITH THE CRUSADERS AND A DOZEN SOLO ALBUMS.  IN 
          1995, HE RECORDED A RHYTHM-AND-BLUES VERSION OF "DEAR 
          MOMMA," WRITTEN BY THE LATE RAP STAR TUPAC SHAKUR.  
          LAST YEAR, SAMPLE RELEASED "OLD PLACES, OLD FACES," A 
          TRIBUTE ALBUM TO THOSE WHO HAD INFLUENCED AND INSPIRED 
          HIS MUSIC OVER THE YEARS.  LET'S RETURN TO JOE SAMPLE'S
          NEW ALBUM "SAMPLE THIS" FOR "SNOWFLAKE," FOLLOWED BY 
          "NIGHT FLIGHT." 

          "A GREAT PERFORMANCE COMES OUT OF EVERYONE, WHILE 
          PARTICIPATING (THEY) SHOULD ACTUALLY FEEL THE SAME 
          THING AT THE SAME TIME.  THAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT 
          THING TO DO - IS TO GET EVERYONE INVOLVED TO FEEL 
          EXACTLY THE SAME THING AT THE SAME TIME."