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| 1. | That's the Way Love Goes
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| 2. | Better Days Ahead
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| 3. | Just Between Us
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| 4. | Any Love
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| 5. | Too High
feat. Stevie Wonder, Boyz II Men |
| 6. | Lydian
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| 7. | Moonlight Tonight
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| 8. | After the Storm
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| 9. | After the Love Is Gone
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| 10. | Your Body's Callin'
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| 11. | For the Love of You
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Jazz / Soul-Jazz; Smooth Jazz; Crossover Jazz
Recorded: 1992-1996
Norman Brown (vocals, guitar)
Stevie Wonder (vocals, harmonica); Bobby Lyle (piano); Larry Kimpel, Richard Patterson (bass guitar); Land Richards, Rayford Griffin (drums); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Boyz II Men (background vocals)
Oh yeah. GRP comes up with a compilation worthy of its title. Between 1992 and 1996, guitarist, composer, and arranger Norman Brown released three albums -- Just Between Us, After the Storm, and Better Days Ahead -- for the MoJazz imprint (he was the first solo artist signed to the label). He was the first guitarist since George Benson to lay out solid grooves where genuine improvisation met the groove consciousness with a seamless blend of R&B, deep soul, and funk. His playing is warm, eclectic, and literally stunning in places, even over standard R&B rhythmic foundations. But his recordings -- particularly Just Between Us and the truly electrifying After the Storm -- took the entire "smooth jazz" genre to an entirely new level. His compositions and his way of playing covers -- as demonstrated by the inclusion of his reads of the Isley Brothers' "For the Love of You," Stevie Wonder's "Too High" (on which the composer guests as vocalist), Marcus Miller and Luther Vandross' "Any Love," as well as R. Kelly's "Your Body's Callin'" are so remarkable, uplifting, and downright sexy it's no wonder that they resounded in the NAC radio consciousness the way they did. Critically, those jazzheads who didn't dismiss smooth jazz entirely could see it. But these records never crossed over the way they should have. This can be attributed to many causes: the deep niche fragmentation of FM radio, the lack of videos shown anywhere but BET (why not VH1?) despite the fact that these sets all made the mainstream Top 200 Billboard charts. It begs questions about race and class in American popular culture that is beyond the scope of this review. As this best-of illustrates, Brown's MoJazz albums are literally unequaled for their time period and stand with Grover Washington's Soul Box and Mister Magic, or Benson's aforementioned classic, or even Wes Montgomery's Down Here on the Ground as revolutionary. They should have crossed over into the mainstream in the same way those earlier recordings did. In the post-LP, 45 rpm and jukebox era, these are recordings that demand a serious reconsideration. One has to wonder why Universal, GRP's parent company, hasn't issued any "Deluxe Editions" of any of the disc this Very Best Of comes from. The 11 cuts chosen here may not be the deepest from those albums, but they were the most popular, and that counts for plenty. Check the cover of "After the Love Is Gone," James Brown's "That's the Way Love Goes," or Brown's own "Just Between Us," as the terrain where so many genres meet, commingle, and come out as something recombinant. That something of course is the very best of smooth jazz. This is highly recommended as an example of popular art at is best.
---Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Norman Brown
Active Decades: '80s, '90s and '00s
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Soul-Jazz, Crossover Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Guitarist Norman Brown splashed into the soul-jazz scene in 1992 as a recording artist for MoJazz and quickly went on to win substantial acclaim, beginning with his award-winning second album, After the Storm. Both Gavin and Soul Train named it Jazz Album of the Year, and After the Storm remained on the charts for over two years. Suddenly critics drew comparisons to other astonishing jazz guitarists from the past such as George Benson and Wes Montgomery, and Brown became the toast of the soul-jazz crowd. Following the remarkable success of After the Storm, Brown continued to wow jazz listeners. His highly awaited follow-up, Better Days Ahead, didn't quite measure up to the brilliance of After the Storm, but it nonetheless won the 1997 American Jazz Award for contemporary guitar and the album's title track became the most-added single in NAC history until that point. Following his flurry of successes at MoJazz, Brown moved to Warner Bros. in 1999, where he began focusing on the evolution of his still-evolving career.
Born in Kansas City, Brown first became interested in the guitar at age eight, when he grew fond of his brother's acoustic six-string. He initially took much influence from such guitar-based acts as Jimi Hendrix and the Isley Brothers, but once he discovered one of his father's favorite guitarists, Wes Montgomery, everything changed. Rather than play, for instance, material by Earth, Wind & Fire in local bands, Brown began playing contemporary jazz tunes and standards. His increasing interest in jazz guitar led him to Los Angeles in the mid-'80s, where he studied formally at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood. Following his graduation, he taught briefly and signed to Motown's MoJazz label, where he recorded his first three albums, including the much-championed After the Storm album.
---Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide |
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