Pieces of a Heart
Artist: Carl Anderson

What Michael Crawford was to the Phantom, Carl Anderson surely is to the pop jazz ballad. Anderson's rich and powerful vocalizing is an absolute treasure, with wondrous ballads like the simple message tune "If I Could," and more standard sentiments such as the title song, which is brought alive in colorful modulations and helped along by the... Read More

Pieces
Artist: Pieces of a Dream
Community Score: 10.00
Never Alone: Duets
Artist: Paul Jackson, Jr.

As one of the top studio guitarists in the pop, soul and jazz genres, it's probably a rare day that finds Paul Jackson, Jr. noodling by himself. Reflective of his expertise and popularity is Never Alone, a snazzy party platter loaded with early evening jam sessions, seductive midnight confessions and even cooler breakdowns for after the last... Read More

Goodbye Manhattan
Artist: Pieces of a Dream

This is one of Pieces of a Dream's better efforts. Saxophonist Ron Kerber looks toward Grover Washington, Jr., (on soprano) and David Sanborn (during his alto spots) for inspiration and the keyboardists recall Ramsey Lewis but, even with the inclusion of a few throwaway rhythm tracks and some Eva Cassidy pop vocals, some of these selections do... Read More

The Best of Patti Austin - COLUMBIA
Artist: Patti Austin

The Best of Patti Austin isn't quite what it appears to be. Instead of compiling her big early-'80s hits like "Baby, Come to Me" and "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," the 16-track collection features her lesser-known late-'70s material for CTI Records, where she had only one notable hit in 1977 with "Say You Love Me." Despite the lack of... Read More

Undercover
Artist: Art Porter

When it came time to go Undercover for his third Verve Forecast project, the late saxman must have taken his cue from fellow multi-saxman Eric Marienthal and realized that the ticket to a perfectly balanced collection is utilizing the relentless production funk of labelmate/keyboardist Jeff Lorber only half the time. Lorber's trademark bounce... Read More

Jazz in the Present Tense
Artist: Solsonics

The jazz/hip-hop and acid-jazz schools continue to generate interesting, if erratic projects. The Solsonics' instrumentals and reworkings and incorporation of such jazz classics as Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay" and Ahmad Jamal's "Superstition" are intriguing, featuring fine solos from saxophonist Jim Akimoto, trumpeter Elliot Caine, keyboardist... Read More

The Quiet Revolution
Artist: Ronny Jordan
Community Score: 10.00
Tokyo Blue
Artist: Najee
Community Score: 10.00

Best known for his dynamite soprano, Najee proved his versatility with this disc by using alto and tenor, and even throwing in some tender flute work on the mellow "My Old Friend." He is a strong improvisator, but you could classify Tokyo Blue as R&B just as easily as jazz due to the funk grooves (which display a similar formula as George... Read More

Lalah Hathaway
Artist: Lalah Hathaway
Community Score: 6.83

When Lalah Hathaway's self-titled debut album came out in 1990, there was reason to believe that she might evolve into one of the top female R&B singers of the 1990s. Donny Hathaway's daughter certainly had a lot going for her -- not only a big vocal range, but also plenty of charisma, passion, and charm to go with it. The material on this CD... Read More

A Brighter Day
Artist: Ronny Jordan

As the reality of Y2K took hold, no doubt many artists went with forward-thinking album titles for their first efforts of the new millennium. But guitarist Ronny Jordan wasn't thinking of trendiness or even the calendar shift when he called his Blue Note debut A Brighter Day. His 1992 jazz/hip-hop-fused release The Antidote made him an instant... Read More