BWB - Groovin' (2002)

BWB is a a smooth jazz "supergroup" in the same vein as Fourplay and Urban Knights. We're treated to Rick Braun on trumpet, Kirk Whalum on saxophone, and Norman Brown on guitar - there's also Christian McBride on bass, but for some reason he didn't rate a title credit. This is a covers album that offers up versions of tunes from a varied array of artists from D'Angelo to Leiber & Stoller to Joe Zawinul to George Clinton. Good stuff; definitely above average smooth jazz (I'm particularly fond of Brown's soloing). I'm guessing the trio originally envisioned this as a one-off covers album because they didn't release another album for 11 years, but I could be wrong.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #4

Tracks: My favorites are Groovin', Ruby Baby, the slow burn of Mercy Mercy Mercy, and It's Your Thing. I don't care much for the plodding cover of Alicia Key's A Woman's Worth.

This was released as an "Enchanced CD" and, amazingly, I was able to get it to play with a few work-arounds:

Contents: links to websites, a small photo gallery, and a 10 minute promo video.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

Rick Braun:
Shake It Up (2000)
Body And Soul (1997)
Beat Street (1995)

Kirk Whalum:
The Babyface Songbook (2005)
Unconditional (2000)
Floppy Disk (1985)

Norman Brown:
West Coast Coolin' (2004)
Celebration (1999)

Kirk Whalum - Unconditional (2000)

A fine example of turn-of-the-century smooth jazz: a few original pieces, a few covers, and a couple of vocal tracks thrown in among the mostly instrumental cuts. Unfortunately, there's also a number of credits for "drum programming" in the liner notes, but that sterile programming is the only thing that really dates the sound of the album. Overall, the songs have a slight gospel tinge to them and the album title refers to God's unconditional love, so it's not surprising that I find the album as a whole to be uplifting. No downers here.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: The centerpiece of this album is the funky tribute to Grover Washington, Jr. titled Groverworked & Underpaid. Other quality tracks include the title cut and Playing With Fire; the latter cut featuring some tasty guitar work from Peter White. Of the two vocal tracks, I like the slow funk groove of Real Love, which features Wendy Moten on vocals. The other vocal tracks (featuring Shai) is a fairly generic quiet storm R&B track - not great, but not terribly out of place here. The worst cuts are the 'N Sync and Macy Gray covers because those were played far too safe for my liking (and weren't that great songs to begin with).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I first became aware of this album in 2006 when I caught Whalum in concert and the highlight of the show (for me, at least) was Groverworked & Underpaid, which was stretched into a 20 minute encore. That's probably not any where close to the actual truth, but that's how I've chosen to remember it.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Babyface Songbook (2005)
Floppy Disk (1985)

Kirk Whalum - Floppy Disk (1985)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a CD.

Remember those 5¼" floppy discs like the ones on the album cover? That seems like ages ago. Then we went to 3½" discs, then flash drives, now clouds. But I digress.

I first heard Whalum on Bob James's 1984 album, 12. This is his solo debut and it's not great, but it certainly isn't bad. It's enjoyable smooth jazz and Whalum sounds a lot like Grover Washington, Jr. here. The production sounds terribly dated now, but the Linn Drum and other synth programming was cutting edge in jazz back then. It's fun to listen to this now not only because it brings back good memories from my college years, but also because you can now hear how far Whalum has come as a musician, particularly as a composer, since this recording. Bob James's hand is all over this record, but he didn't tackle any of the writing duties.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "lively crossover debut"
• CashBox: "lean fusion effort"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• CashBox Jazz: #6
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #2

Tracks: My favorite cut is Rodeo, followed by Time I Learned, but Kyle's Smiles and Afterthought are also good in a mid-'80s drum machine kind of way. The title track is a 7 minute mess and best avoided.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD (written while wearing a SEG): I won't go into too many embarrassing details, but once around 1987, I was sleep deprived and not thinking straight (fairly common for college students) and I listened to side one of this album and the music put me in a good mood. Maybe giddy or punch drunk would be better descriptions. In any case, I left the house thinking I could do something that was impossible. Long story short: things got messy, but everything worked out in the long run.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Babyface Songbook (2005)

Kirk Whalum - Performs the Babyface Songbook (2005)

Most jazz artists go back more than fifty years when selecting music to record for a "songbook" CD. Cole Porter, Sinatra, Gershwin are all popular choices. However, Whalum dips into the '90s by picking out songs by musician Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, who, in addition to his own work, wrote and produced such '90s acts as Tevin Campbell, Toni Braxton, and TLC. For the most part, this CD works. Babyface's style of smooth R&B music is well-suited to smooth jazz covers.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Can We Talk is my pick for top track with guest appearances from Norman Brown and Rick Braun. Other favorites include For The Cool In You and Whip Appeal. Babyface makes a vocal appearance on I Said I Love You. Less successful are covers of Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love to You and Vanessa Williams' Betcha Never.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Whalum went to college in Houston and started his career there, so it was fun to skip the end of a grad class at the University of Houston (sorry, Dr. Lee) and walk across campus to see him on his home turf with many of his friends in the audience. Everyone in attendance at the concert got this CD free on our way out the door. Great evening. During the show, Whalum and his band played a straight-ahead jazz standard (Giant Steps, maybe?), which was a nice change of pace from smooth jazz. He and his group totally nailed the song. At the end of the piece, Whalum remarked, "If someone can't play music like that, they may play smooth music, but it's not jazz music." (or something along those lines). While this may have been a dig at the current batch of smooth jazz artists, it showed that Whalum can play any type of jazz and knows his jazz history, he just prefers to play smooth jazz. With the money it's made him, who could blame him?