DESCRIPTION:
"Open Sesame (Groove with the Genie)" is a 1976 song written by Ronald Bell of the group Kool & The Gang. It is also the tenth studio album by the funk band. The album yielded the hit title track, "Open Sesame", which achieved some success, first as a top ten R&B single, then later as part of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, funk and disco group, originally formed in 1964 as the Jazziacs based in Jersey City, New Jersey.

They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of funk and R&B, progressing to a smooth pop-funk ensemble, and in the post-millennium creating music with a modern, electro-pop sound. They have sold over 70 million albums worldwide.

The group's main members over the years included brothers Robert "Kool" Bell on bass and Ronald Bell on tenor saxophone, lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor, George Brown on drums, Larry Gittens on trumpet, Dennis Thomas on alto saxophone, Claydes Charles Smith on guitar, and Rick Westfield on keyboards. The Bell brothers' father was an acquaintance of Thelonious Monk, and the brothers were friends with Leon Thomas.

The late 1970s saw a lull in Kool & the Gang's output except for the album Open Sesame, which yielded the title track "Open Sesame", achieving some success as part of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. New lead singer James "J.T." Taylor then joined the group, starting with 1979's Ladies' Night. Their number one hit in 1980's "Celebration" was from Celebrate!, co-produced by Eumir Deodato. More international hits followed in the early 1980s, including "Big Fun", "Get Down on It", and "Joanna". Their 1984 album Emergency yielded four top-20 pop hits, including "Fresh" and "Cherish". Their chart presence stopped after Forever. In 1988, Taylor left the group amicably to pursue a solo career. He returned for the 1996 album State of Affairs, which did not make much of an impact commercially. Taylor departed again in 2001 to resume his solo career.

Of Kool & the Gang's original members, the Bell brothers, Brown, and Thomas are still with the group. Ricky Westfield, the group's original keyboardist, left in 1976 to form his own band, and died in 1985. Guitarist Claydes Smith died after a long illness on June 20, 2006, aged 57 and was replaced by the Bells' youngest brother Amir Bayyan. Original trumpet player Robert "Spike" Mickens, who had retired in 1986 due to poor health, died at the age of 59 on November 2, 2010, at a nursing home in Far Rockaway, New York. Kool and the Gang soon added Larry Gittens in 1975, from the Stylistics, along with Spike Mickens. Longtime members who continue to perform and record with the group include Clifford Adams (trombone), Curtis Williams (keyboards) and additional trumpeter Michael Ray.

In 2012, Kool & the Gang toured with Van Halen. On November 5, 2013, they released their first Christmas album, Kool for the Holidays.