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music
Will Downing
Will Downing sighs sexily into the microphone. In the silence of the recording booth, he’s in a world all his own. Savoring every last drop of the music cascading around him, he finally takes off his headset and smiles a smile best described as an extremely satisfied one. And he has every right to be just that, having just completed the finishing touches on his latest CD, All The Man You Need. As he high-fives his way through the recording studio, Will Downing quietly exudes the confidence of a singer extraordinaire who knows this latest project—his eighth overall and first for the Motown label—is destined to be his best received yet. Not a small feat given his well-earned place in the upper echelon of today’s truly talented recording stars.
The fact that Will Downing, despite the critically acclaimed CDs and the sold-out concert tours, still seeks to broaden his horizons comes as no surprise to those who work with him. “Will is one of those special artists whose star will continually shine brighter than the day before,” says longtime friend and music cohort Rex Rideout. The words of praise are fact, not exaggeration. Long recognized as the “people’s champ” of smooth R&B and contemporary jazz midtempos and groove ballads, All The Man You Need deftly adds new perspectives to Will’s amazing discography without sacrificing his artistry.
“We wanted to push the envelope a bit,” he explains in his seductive baritone. The “we” he refers to is himself and Motown president Kedar Massenburg. The two put their heads together and crafted a disc that compromises neither side while subtly enhancing both. “Motown had some interesting ideas and I had some things I’ve been wanting to try for a while now. I feel really good about this disc because we achieved our mutual goals without losing the essence of who I am.”
The essence of Will Downing rests comfortably in his ability to effortlessly embrace a tender lyric and caress it with a hypnotic music bed. Sharing production and writing chores with the likes of Rideout, Regis Branson and Kyle Bynoe, Will has fashioned songs like “Summer Day” and “Love Of My Life” in which edgy drum rhythms add a new and refreshing twist to his already impressive repertoire. On another front, the first single, “When You Need Me,” is a soul-stirring duet with Chante Moore (produced by Stanley Brown) that has classic R&B written all over it while “Share My World” (produced by Kevin Deane) and “Tired Melody” (produced by James Poyser and featuring Nicholas Payton on trumpet) strike the perfect balance between smooth-groove R&B and Will’s contemporary jazz roots. A must-hear rendition of the Bill Withers smash “Grandma’s Hands” rounds things out to perfection. “It’s On,” the CD’s intriguing opening intro, is one of Will’s personal favorites on this twelve song collection because, he says proudly, “everything you hear on that track is me. My voice. Completely acapella. It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun too.”
Fun is clearly something Will Downing has had throughout an illustrious career that began with the Brooklyn native doing background sessions in the early 1980s. After singing on several dance hits, Will’s solo career took flight in 1988 when his self-named debut effort yielded an unforgettable version of “Free,” the song originally popularized by Deniece Williams in the ‘70s. The second project, Come Together, included a remake Rose Royce’s “Wishing On A Star.” It was Will’s third CD, 1991’s groundbreaking and aptly titled A Dream Fulfilled, that put him squarely on the map with his now classic versions of “I Try” and “I Go Crazy.”
From there Will kept getting his groove on and in short order became a perennial favorite and top concert draw both at home in the U.S. and abroad in England. In between dates at such prestigious theatres as New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall, Will recorded 1993’s Love’s The Place To Be, 1995’s Moods, 1997’s Invitation Only and his 1998 collaboration with saxophonist Gerald Albright, Pleasures Of The Night. Now comes All The Man You Need, his first offering of the new century. “Not at all,” Will laughs when asked if the title reflects the way he feels about himself. Or, for that matter, the way his female fans feel about him. “I think to get a true depiction of who I am you would have to listen to all my CDs, to all the songs I’ve written, and then put together the pieces of the puzzle.”
An interesting piece of the puzzle is the new CD’s cover photo. It was shot by Downing himself. “Photography,” he confides, “is my other passion. I’m actually in discussions now for a book based on my photographs. Along those lines I’ve quietly shot other people’s covers—like Rahn Lawrence--but this is my first self-portrait. It was a way to bring together my mutual love for aural art and for visual art. I’m proud of it.”
And well he should be. Whether you admire Will the recording artist or Will the photographer, it’s clear that Will Downing the man is poised to forge new ground in the new millennium. All The Man You Need is an admirable first step.
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