WILL DOWNING SENSUAL JOURNEY
US Verve/GRP CD, 2002
1) Cool Water 2) I Can't Help It
3) Home 4) Don't Talk to Me Like That 5) Almost
Like Being in Love 6) Maybe 7) If I Ever Lose
This Heaven 8) Drowning in Your Eyes 9) Just
Don't Wanna Be Lonely 10) Brooklyn Breezes 11)
Bolero Nova
Produced by Will Downing, Ronnie Foster, Rex
Rideout, Kowan Paul, Lee Ritenour, Kashif &
Sandy Stein, John Beasley
"As much as I like the artists of
today I find myself gravitating toward the
artists and music of yesteryear, or music that
utilizes more live players, the interplay of the
musicians, the lyrics, the arrangements, etc. I
was raised on it, so I carry on the tradition, as
you'll hear with this project. In my opinion
there's a void in music. There seems to be very
little attention paid to the adult market. It's
almost as if people are afraid to say they are
adults."
These are the words of Will Downing
on the leaflet of his new CD, and it's precisely
this kind of thinking that has cemented his
status as my number one hero. I forget how many
times I've had the conversation where some friend
/ acquaintance / co-worker has commented on the
music I've been listening - be it jazz, soul, Frank
Sinatra, whatever - and told me it
sounds like "adult music". For several
years now, my prompt response has always been the
same: "Well, I actually am an adult, so if
you want to call my music adult music, it's fine
by me." Advancing towards my mid-thirties,
I've often wondered how so many people in my age
group still find it necessary to listen to the
same music they listened to when they were
thirteen years old (i.e. the moronic pop / rock /
heavy music that happened to top the charts at
that particular time), or even worse, the same
music thirteen-year-olds listen to now.
Will Downing is certainly the perfect antidote to
that kind of attitude, and Sensual Journey,
his ninth album to date, is arguably the best
thing the man has recorded since the nigh perfect
A Dream Fulfilled back in 1991. After
his previous set All the Man You Need in
2000, an enjoyable flirtation with contemporary
sounds, Will has returned to a more familiar
acoustic setting, and the end result is very
rewarding.
This is really an album that should be considered
as a whole, and pointing out individual tracks is
tricky. Still, the prime cut for me has to be the
Kashif production Brooklyn
Breezes, a brilliant version of his 1998
instrumental from the Expansion set Who Loves
You? The original was already a fascinating
jazzy mid-stepper, and when you add Will's
sensual vocals to the proceedings, what you get
is a mellow piece of urban black music at its
best.
Other cover versions include the Stevie
Wonder / Susaye Green composition I
Can't Help It, which is transformed into an
elegant jazz-soul floater with a Brazilian lilt
and a soprano sax solo by Boney James,
the Pam Sawyer / Leon Ware tune
If I Ever Lose This Heaven, on which the
understated yet stylish arrangement complements
Will's peaceful interpretation very nicely, and
the appropriately light-hearted take on Ronnie
Dyson's Just Don't Wanna Be Lonely,
a tune which also Main Ingredient and
Blue Magic have covered, the
last-mentioned being responsible for my favourite
version.
On the ballad front, there are a couple of
vintage Will Downing efforts, of which my own
personal favourite would have to be Don't
Talk to Me Like That, a melancholy tune with
Stefon Harris' vibe soloing, Vinx'
scatting and Rohn Lawrence's
delicate guitar playing. Definitely nothing wrong
with the peaceful Home, complete with Gerald
Albright's sax solo, and the more mellow
Almost Like Being in Love, spiced with Marc
Antoine's guitar playing, either.
The album is brought to a stylish close by the
peaceful soul / jazz / bossa exercise Bolero
Nova. All in all, a collection of
sophisticated jazz-inclined soul music from the
more conservative end of the spectrum, yet with
that highly personal Will Downing touch.
Essential for Will's fans. (9) - PR
