Aurra

Centered around leader Steve Washington and singers Starleana Young and Curtis Jones, Aurra was an outgrowth of the Ohio-based funk band Slave. They recorded a handful of albums during their late-'70s and early-'80s existence, with most of that output released on Salsoul. The group's membership shifted constantly, with most of the musicians having strong ties to Slave. Aurra helped take Salsoul into the '80s by recording dancefloor-friendly material with the help of synthesizers and programmed rhythms. While the bulk of Salsoul's early releases featured elaborate string sections, mostly live instrumentation, and thumping disco foundations, '80s projects such as Aurra took advantage of studio technology and appealed to club DJs and radio programmers alike by concentrating equally on traditional songcraft and dance rhythms. Washington instigated Aurra as a family affair of sorts, using various friends and members of the Slave road crew to fill out the group's lineup; at various points, Aurra's personnel swelled to a dozen. In addition to the core of Washington, Young, and Jones, Aurra's membership included Mark Adams, Steve Arrington, Charles "Cedell" Carter, Philip Field, Buddy "Hanks" Henderson, Jennifer Ivory, Tom Lockett, William Young, and Mike Young. Washington helped Aurra score a contract with Salsoul, one of the premier disco labels. Their self-titled 1980 debut was actually released on Dream, a subsidiary of Salsoul, but their next three albums -- 1981's Send Your Love, 1982's A Little Love, and 1983's Live and Let Live -- were released on Salsoul proper. Around the time Live and Let Live was conceived and released, financial matters began to cause turmoil within the group. Young and Jones grew increasingly distrustful of Washington, and the tension became so...