Review: Glenton Davis - Are You Ready

Glenton Davis - Are You Ready
2010, Arbitrage Records

Glenton Davis may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but the man can play and sing. The veteran of The Taft School and Yale University started out his professional life at J.P. Morgan in New York City, surviving the financial crisis of 2008 while plying his musical wares in Manhattan clubs. As luck would have it, some radio stations in Canada picked up his song Get On The Floor, helping to peak at #475 on the top-500 Canadian AC charts. This helped Davis some to the decision to pursue music full time. Leaving the financial world, Davis worked with French drummer/producer Julien Mannoni to craft his next EP, Are You Ready. Along the way, Davis has worked with songwriter Tomi Martin (Michael Jackson, TLC) and super-agent Jim Halsey. His influences include Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, James Brown and The Isley Brothers. Are You Ready is set for an April 22, 2010 release in the US, and will mark the US debut of Get On The Floor.

Are You Ready opens with the radio edit of Get On The Floor. Davis' voice is decent enough, but a bit too soft to project the iconic image that would drive what is essentially a slightly above average dance tune on to bigger and better things. Get On The Floor has a solid dance beat, but isn't overly memorable. An Extended Club Remix follows, clocking in at 8:12. The effort would certainly gain some traction on the club scene, but once again, Davis just doesn't project the sort of persona here that would really drive the song. She Don't Have To Know has a base arrangement of bass and percussion; Davis blends horns and synth around the middle at times to fill out the sound in a song about engaging in an illicit relationship. Davis shows off his pipes here in a performance that reminded me a bit of Stevie Wonder. Davis can't quite carry tunes with the conviction Wonder manages, but he has a similar range and willingness to step outside the Pop box and take the occasional risk. Davis closes with Dangerously In Love 2, a lovely ballad likely to appeal to the hopeless and Hopeless romantics out there. Davis does some vocal gymnastics trying to marry the overpopulated lyrics of the chorus to the more economical melody, which does become a bit distracting, but the song itself is a solid effort that could stand up next to a lot of the contemporary ballads on Urban and Pop radio.

Glenton Davis perhaps might rise to the level of his mentors and heroes. For now, Davis is a solid songwriter with a good ear and a pleasant voice. He doesn't show the vocal personality or extremity of talent on Are You Ready to take on an iconic shadow on CD or stage, but has enough of each to be intriguing. Get On The Floor may have had modest chart success in Canada, but it's Dangerously In Love that likely has the most commercial potential on the EP. I'm sure this isn't the last we've heard of Davis.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Glenton Davis at www.glentonmusic.com or www.myspace.com/glentondavis. Are You Ready drops April 22, 2010. Keep checking Davis’ website for more information!

Review: Every Boy - The Last Lala's

Every Boy - The Last Lala's
2009, Every Boy

New York City-based Every Boy has a lot of musical friends. His debut album, The Last Lala's features Ben Peeler (The Wallflowers), Tom Freund (Ben Harper), Brian LeBarton (Beck) and Adam Topal (Jack Johnson). Produced by Grammy winner John Holbrook (Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Natalie Merchant, The Isley Brothers, Fountains Of Wayne) and Freund, The Last Lala's mixes a Zen approach with an eclectic Pop sensibility in its best moments.

Every Boy opens with Life Is For Living, an interesting tune about the important things in life. Every Boy's vocal delivery is somewhere between Peter Gabriel and James Blunt here. The most enjoyable song on the disc, Im2b, is highly catchy with a Beatles-inspired sound. Im2b has real potential as a single; infectious enough to catch hold on the radio with the right break. Every Boy treads the path of relationship insecurity on Would You Still Love Me?; exploring all of the things he could do or become and asking whether his beloved would still love him. The vocal line gets lazy here, with Every Boy sliding around notes like they were theoretical concepts. Chinese Wine sounds like a Frat house rant, falling prey to its own repetition. Every Boy makes a positive turn on Keep On Keeping On, displaying strong Pop sensibility and a sing-a-long chorus. Lyrically there are some awkward moments, but the song is so catchy you won't care. Every Boy says goodnight with Unturn Every Stone, a ploddingly melodic tune that perhaps takes a bit too long to get where its going but isn't bad for all that.

Every Boy hits a couple of high moments on The Last Lala's, but spends much of the album mired in mediocre energy and an easy going approach that fails to reach out to the listener. It's clear that Every Boy has the talent to write and play great music, but too often on The Last Lala's easy choices beget easy music, resulting in songs that slip away from the mind easily once they're done. Take what you can from The Last Lala's and see what Every Boy comes up with next.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Every Boy at http://www.everyboy.net/ or www.myspace.com/everyboyrocks. You can purchase The Last Lala's as either a CD or Download from Amazon.com.

Review: Boney James - Send One Your Love

Boney James – Send One Your Love
2009, Concord Records

Boney James is prolific. Thirteen albums in seventeen years, including four RIAA certified gold albums, four #1 albums and three resulting Grammy nominations is quite a track record. James cut his teeth touring and doing session work for the likes of Morris Day, The Isley Brothers, Randy Crawford, Ray Parker Jr. and Bobby Caldwell. Boney James is for all intents and purposes the founding father of urban jazz, and has influenced an entire generation of jazz musicians. His latest release, Send One Your Love, is a theme record based on the sort of music Barry White and Marvin Gaye made their own.

Send One Your Love opens with the smoothe sounds of Wanna Show U Sumthin’. Breaking down the barriers between jazz and pop with a slow jam vibe, Wanna Show U Sumthin’ makes a great listen. Send One Your Love is a bit lighter, set in an exquisite arrangement full of layered sounds. Stop, Look, Listen comes back to an acoustic base that seems to work best with Boney James’ sax. Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight is pure soul, featuring newcomer Quinn (Atlanta, Ga) on vocals. Quinn has pipes that rank up there with Seal, and this arrangement works to feature his distinctive voice perfectly. City Of Light is one of my favorite tracks here. Boney James is inspired on this one, dancing in and out of the arrangement like the life of bees.

Boney James has been around for a long, long time, and continues to please old fans while making new ones with each release. Send One Your Love will not disappoint existing fans and is accessible enough to spread the gospel of Boney James to a new generation. Send One Your Love is great listening.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Boney James at http://www.boneyjames.com/. You can pick up a copy of Send One Your Love at Amazon.com or wherever music is sold.