Chris Jasper, Who Helped Revitalize the Isley Brothers, Dies at 73
Chris Jasper, a Juilliard-trained keyboardist, singer and songwriter who brought an expansive musical vocabulary to the long-running R&B group the Isley Brothers, helping push them into a new hit-making era in the 1970s and '80s with singles like 'That Lady' and 'Fight the Power,' died on Feb. 23. He was 73.
His death was announced in a statement on his Facebook account, which noted that he had been diagnosed with cancer in December. The statement did not say where he died.
Mr. Jasper, who was also a producer, started his decade-long run as an official member of the Isley Brothers in 1973. He added musical complexity to the long-running R&B group as it took on a richer, funkier style for a new decade.
Looking back on the Isley Brothers' sound in a 2020 interview with Rockin' Hot Radio, a Delaware-based station, he said, 'It's R&B, of course,' but added that he borrowed 'voicings that were used in classical music, and in particular the Romantic period, with composers like Debussy, even 20th-century composers like Gershwin.' Mr. Jasper, far left, with other members of the Isley Brothers in a mid-1970s publicity photo. Seated are Ronald, left, and Rudolph Isley; standing are, from left, Marvin, O'Kelly and Ernie Isley. Credit... T-Neck Records
During his tenure, the group lodged more than a dozen singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and more than a dozen albums on the Billboard 200 — six of them in the Top 10, including 'The Heat Is On,' which reached No. 1 in 1975.
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