Customer Reviews

Love Pages

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A labor of love... Literally. It's all about the love with the Café Soul All-Stars on LOVE PAGES... From the contributing artists to the subject of the songs... Here's a partial list of who's in on all this love: Glenn Jones, Bobby Lyle, Peabo Bryson, Norman Connors, Vesta, Bob Baldwin, Maysa, Kenny Garrett, Roy Ayers, and George Benson! So have I lost you to the BUY button? Go ahead... You don't need me to tell you you're going to love this collection of songs. Fifteen tracks in all, including "What You Gonna Do" featuring Glenn Jones on vocals, "Don't Make Me Cry," the tune Peabo Bryson firmly hangs his hat on, Maysa's jazzy, "I'm Changing," a breezy instrumental featuring Bobby Lyle called, "Brazilian Heat," a Benson-blessed tune called "Pages," and so many more in-the-pocket, on-the-money, jazz-meets-R&B songs. Props to YOU Entertainment for conceiving and releasing this feel good concept album. C.E.O. Clarence O. Smith says, "The goal is to bring back quality music. Music that engages people emotionally, intellectually and spiritually." The story goes that Smith enlisted musician/producer Duke Jones in 2000 to recruit a band from the New Orleans-based Essence Music Festival to play on a cruise ship he was chartering from New Orleans to Mexico. Both Duke and Clarence listened to the nightly sessions they recorded on the ship and realized they had something to share with the masses. Thus began the joyful journey of LOVE PAGES and the assembling of the Café Soul All-Stars. We hope this is the first of many releases from CSA and YOU Entertainment. Bring on the love! -Sandy Shore

Nice concept-nice effort. Put together an all-star ensemble of talented musicians and vocalists (Bobby Lyle, Maysa, George Benson, Vesta, et. al.) and you expect to get a masterpiece, right? Well, don't get your hopes up on this project folks. The music contained herein is poorly produced and the selection of songs are not that great by any stretch of the imagination. The only track on this disc that is half-way impressive is "Don't Make Me Cry" featuring Peabo Bryson on lead vocals. The rest of these songs are not interesting at all. It's disappointing that so many talented artists collaborated on such a lackluster project. Trust me - don't waste your time or money on this one.

Okay, this isn't your everyday compilation by any means. A lot of times there are jazz collections put together that simply don't incorporate enough big names to persuade the casual contemporary jazz fan to want to take a chance on it. You might see one or two names you are familiar with, but after that, you're stuck with only so-so production from average singers doing only okay songs. And a lot of times you get albums that have R&B-tinged songs, but not one R&B singer in sight on the disc. I'm a huge fan of jazz covers of R&B songs, but I really love it when R&B singers jump out of the box and actually try their hand at singing a little jazz. Well the architect behind the creation of the Cafe Soul All Stars were paying attention and have blessed us with Love Pages.

Of course you get your dose of contemporary jazz here with George Benson handling vocals and guitar on "Pages" and Bobby Lyle on the up-tempo instrumental "Brazilian Heat." The lounge vibe comes across on Jon Lucien's "To Be With You," a song that some will compare to the work of the late great Lou Rawls. Musical mastermind Roy Ayers and Kenny Garrett command your attention on the upbeat dance groove "Urban Jungle." Ayers pops back up again with a smoother track called "Pier 69" that accentuates his percussion perfection.

One of the best features on Love Pages is the inclusion of some known R&B and Jazz singers who know how to breathe life into a song. Maysa does double duty with the silky sounds of "Stay In My Heart" and the resonant "I'm Changing," a track that is radio friendly enough for today's Smooth Jazz stations. Glenn Jones belts out another contender for the airwaves with "What You Gonna Do" while Peabo Bryson validates his power ballad expertise on "Don't Make Me Cry." The incognito Christopher Williams resurfaces with a nice tune called "Used To Be" while equally missing-in-action songstress Vesta makes her presence known with "One More Bridge To Cross"

Other lesser known talents like Denise Stewart ("U and I"), Jazmyn ("You Don't Have To Say You're Sorry") and Ida Onyanango ("Sheba") round out this collection beautifully. It's no surprise that one of the geniuses behind this disc is Norman Connors, a man who's instincts make him unparalleled to say the least. Love Pages takes you on a musical journey where the terrain is always changing, but the ride stays smooth the whole way through.