Donell Jones
first gained attention as a songwriter and producer for such smooth
urban
soul
groups as
Usher
,
Silk
Brownstone
, and
702
, which led
Babyface
to sign the singer/songwriter to
LaFace
. His debut album was a solid
R&B
hit, sketching out a jazzy, soulful variation on
's smooth
-
pop
, which he fills in with his second album,
Where I Wanna Be
. On the surface of things,
Jones
may sound similar to a lot of his peers, but there's a greater sense of musical sophistication in his music. There are light touches of
jazz
, suave electric pianos, and an easy seductiveness to the entire production.
is actually a savvy update of early-'80s
quiet storm
-- it's a little sexier and a little sleeker, but the spirit is more reminiscent of that era than the late '90s (with the noticeable exception of
' tendency to oversell his vocals slightly). At times, the album relies more on style than substance, but it's crafted well, so the slips into filler aren't painful at all. Actually, the very fact that the infrequent bits of filler are enjoyable is a testament to
' talents as a performer and record-maker -- he knows how to deliver the weaker moments with elegance. And those moments don't arrive all that often on
. For much of the album,
hits the right tone -- balancing mood, song, and performance quite alluringly. It gets him and the listener where they wanna be. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine