Dianne Reeves - Quiet After The Storm (1995)

Produced by George Duke, this was Reeves's 8th album release. It's a mixed bag; sometimes trying to be a straight-ahead jazz vocal album, sometimes a smooth jazz/pop album, sometimes a world music album. Don't get me wrong - if you want to tackle those genres, by all means do it - but maybe on different albums. If you take each song on its own, however, the performances are fantastic, even if the material doesn't always work.

Guest artists abound: Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove, Kevin Eubanks, Cannonball Adderley (through the miracle of technology), Hubert Laws, and, of course, Duke.

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Album nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Performance Grammy award, her second nomination.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #6

Tracks: My picks are the tasty swing of Hello Haven't I Seen You Before, the MPB smoothness of Smile, and the joyous nostalgia of Nine (the age, not the time signature as the piece is actually in 7. Also includes a tasty acoustic solo from Eubanks). The only track that truly falls short is a cover of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, but most Mitchell covers fail so that's not a surprise.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Dianne Reeves (1987)

Dianne Reeves (1987)

A few months back, I heard a single from this album on the 1999 compilation Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz: Vocals and found it to be one of the best cuts on that comp, so I ordered this album (I got a two-for-one deal, so we'll be seeing another Reeves CD on this blog at some point).

Billboard, October 24, 1987, p. 104

Reeves' fantastic vocals on jazzy adult contemporary tracks produced by George Duke featuring guest artists Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Stevie Wonder, Freddie Hubbard, etc. - not much more need be said. Midtempo cuts, ballads, and standards, so settle in, put on some headphones, turn off your devices, and relax.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #172
• Billboard R&B: #28
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #1
• CashBox Jazz: #1

Tracks: In addition to the track that brought me to this album, Better Days, I dig the lead track, Sky Islands, and the Stevie Wonder-penned Never Said. The album ends with three standards: Yesterdays, I've Got It Bad And That Ain't Good, and That's All. With that unusual sequencing, you wouldn't think they'd fit in with the contemporary stuff, but indeed they do. The only track that doesn't do much for me is, ironically, I'm O.K.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but considering how much I liked/played/talked about Anita Baker in '87, I can't believe somebody didn't hip me to this back then.