Soprano saxist
Marion Meadows
has been a crown prince in the
smooth jazz
court for so long, it's easy to wonder if he remembers his days woodshedding with
Joe Henderson
and
Norman Connors
'
Starship Orchestra
. He's been wildly successful, and his time with the
Heads Up
label has hardly been wasted; his rep is deep and wide, and his records move. Unlike a better selling counterpart on the same instrument,
Meadows
has a keen sense of rhythm and pitch, and his tonal control is top-notch. Given the tunes here, interchangeable deep relaxing grooves that borrow on everything from
trip-hop
to
jazz
, and
house
Wes Montgomery
's early experiments -- check
"Remember Me,"
for evidence of the latter -- it's easy to forget the individuality
possesses not only on soprano, but also on tenor and flute (he employs all three on
"Coco Flow,"
) as well as alto on the opening title track. He duets with himself on soprano and tenor on
"Bounce"
"Remember Me."
' key collaborator here is composer, programmer, and keyboard whiz
Mike Broening
. He's the guy who comes up with the skeletal, wispy rhythm loops -- leaving the need for a drummer non-existent. There are three tracks with vocals here,
"Miss Know It All,"
an
urban
soul
ballad
with
Will Brock
doing his best
Terence Trent D'Arby
"1000 Dreams"
Caji Da Bahia
, an overblown sunstorm of loaded overdubbing. The cover of
R. Kelly
's
"I Believe I Can Fly"
is an understated
with some beautiful phrasing by
, even when the all too familiar chorus kicks in. When the backing vocalists --
Vanessa
Lori Williams
Raymond Reeder
-- enter, they are so utterly masked by production technique, it's hard to tell they are real singers. But it works, especially in the bridge when
actually plays some
blues
lines.
is a seriously gifted if unchallenged musician. He could use a new writing partner, but that doesn't mean that
Dressed to Chill
won't satisfy fans; it most certainly will. ~ Thom Jurek