Education
Connors became interested in jazz as a child when he began to play drums, once sitting in for Elvin Jones at a John Coltrane performance he attended while in middle school. Connors studied music at Temple University and Juilliard.
Connors became interested in jazz as a child when he began to play drums, once sitting in for Elvin Jones at a John Coltrane performance he attended while in middle school. Connors studied music at Temple University and Juilliard.
His first recording was on Archie Shepp"s 1967 release, Magic of JuJu. He played with Pharoah Sanders for the next few years until signing in 1972 with jazz label, Cobblestone Records, a division of Buddah Records, and releasing his first record as a bandleader. Connors began to focus more on Rhythm & Blues material in the mid-1970s after signing with Buddah Records and then becoming the label"s A&R manager.
He scored several United States hits with songs featuring guest vocalists such as Michael Henderson, Jean Carn, and Phyllis Hyman.
The most successful of these was "You Are My Starship" (#4 Rhythm & Blues, #27 People’s), featuring Henderson in 1976, while "Valentine Love", his first chart success, made #10 Rhythm & Blues in 1975, with vocals from Henderson and Jean Carne. Dee Dee Bridgewater also performed with him on the jazz album "Love from the Sun".
He has also produced recordings for various artists, including collaborators like Jean Carn, Phyllis Hyman, First Rate (at Lloyd's) Johnson, Norman Brown, and saxophonist Marion Meadows. The B side, "Black Cow" (an instrumental) was written by Steely Dan"s Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
His most recent work, Star Power, features smooth jazz and urban crossover music