Neal Creque whose real name is Earl Neal Creque was an American jazz composer, born April 13, 1940 and originally from the Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...

; he was based in the Cleveland area up until his death.

He also composed music with Mongo Santamaría

Mongo Santamaría

Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All...

 including the Grammy-nominated song "Sofrito" which was sampled by Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

 on the album J.Lo..

He was a sought after session musician and his credits include Stanley Turrentine

Stanley Turrentine

Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...

, Theresa Brewer, Leon Thomas

Leon Thomas

Amos Leon Thomas Jr was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois.Thomas studied music at Tennessee State University. In the 1960s he was a vocalist for Count Basie and others....

, Grant Green

Grant Green

Grant Green was a jazz guitarist and composer....

, Harold Ousley

Harold Ousley

Harold Lomax Ousley is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and flautist.Ousley began playing in the late 1940s, and in the 1950s recorded behind vocalists such as Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. He played as a sideman with Gene Ammons in the 1950s and with Jack McDuff and George Benson in the...

, Bernard Purdie

Bernard Purdie

Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...

, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson.

Discography

• 1972: Contrast! (Cobblestone Records
  Cobblestone Records
  Cobblestone Records was an American jazz record label.Cobblestone had two successive incarnations. The early one was in 1968-69 as a singles label, subsidiary of Buddah Records...
  
  )
• 1973: The Hand of Time (Muse Records
  Muse Records
  Muse Records was an American record label which released jazz and blues music.Muse was founded in the early 1970s by Joe Fields, who had previously worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s...
  
  )
• 1972: Creque (Cobblestone) rereleased in 1976 as Black Velvet Rose (Muse)

External links

• Discogs
• [ Allmusic]