Maxwell | BLACKsummers’ night

Maxwell – BLACKsummers’night

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Just when the familiar question ‘whatever happened to?’ might have plagued the minds of his most devoted fans or classic soul devotees for that matter, Maxwell has made his presence known once again after three more than respectable discs.  Now that BLACKsummers’night is out of the box, the first recorded performance since 2001’s Now,this ambitious musical collection is off to a promising start with two tracks already penetrating the R&B charts, “Bad Habits” and the extremely affecting“Pretty Wings.”  In the past two years,Maxwell stepped on the stage for two straight BET Award performances; with Al Green’s classic Simply Beautiful in 2008; and one of the few stimulating highlights from the 2009 ceremonies – “Pretty Wings.”  He also toured within that period previewing cuts from BLACKsummers’night.  The fans embraced him with open arms like he never missed a beat.  Besides the fan support, Maxwel
l was bestowed South African citizenship while appearing at a local music festival.   

So why is there all the fuss today?  For some artists, a seven year could be the kiss of musical career death.  Since his1996 debut Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, an intricately detailed experience on romantic love, much was expected by the listening public and critics from this fresh voice of the neo-soul movement, a voice that beckoned Prince, Stevie (Wonder) and Marvin (Gaye) with shear ease. For this much-heralded debut, Maxwell just happened to sought out Leon Ware, who shaped Gaye’s 1976 album, I Want You. It could have hurt Maxwell’s cause as Urban Hang Suite was shelved nearly two years due to behind the record label management scenes.  Once the green light was finally given, the singles “Till The Cops Come Knockin’, “Ascension (Never Wonder)” and “Sumthin Sumthin” hit their stride on the radio and the charts.  The anticipation was positively solidified with Grammy Award and NAACP nominations along with platinum record sales. 

Curiously with only one project to fall back on, he released a seven-song EP – MTV Unplugged.  From that session, “Whenever Whatever Wherever” from his debut made a dent on the R&B charts.  Yet this 1997 session taped in New York did not stop this expressive and energetic singer/songwriter to bend a few soul music rules.  His fairly faithful perspectives on industrial strength rock band Nine Inch Nails’ hit “Closer” and “This Woman’s Work,” originally written and recorded by enigmatic rock singer/songwriter Kate Bush, were the Unplugged showstoppers.  Both the 1998 Embrya with a more spiritual bent and Now from 2001 revisiting the romantic themes of Urban Hang Scene attained number two and one rankings respectively on the R&B charts.  The crème-de-la-crème hit in his career to this point was composed by R. Kelly. “Fortunate” was oneof several tunes Maxwell captured on various movie soundtracks. 

With the already hot reception by both fans and critics, it seems BLACKsummers’night is reasonably fulfilling compared to his previous body of work, despite – you guessed it – record release delays; even though for different reasons than Urban Hang Suite.  That aside, there are some winning moments that reach back to some classic soul gems and reveals a harder but still potent vocal edge.     

One of the few tracks where Maxwell strikes with a neo-soul sensibility is “Pretty Wings,” a tale about an ill-timed, well-intended love relationship.  “Help Somebody,” bears a slight resemblance to the powerful Gaye’s “What’s Going On.”  “Cold,” a cautionary song about relating to strong-willed women, hints of another Motown classic, “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” by The Temptations.   The best parts of BLACKsummer’nights belongs to Maxwell’s unabashed soul busting aura on “Fistful Of Tears” and “Love You,” the latter beautifully framed with a mild house music gospel induced rhythms.

After all is mostly sung and played in a convincing manner,there are two main issues that arise with BLACKsummer’nights.  I admire Maxwell occasionally exploring the non-traditional song route yet when the instrumentation unnecessarily overpowers his vocals on “Help Somebody,” it tends to strip its powerfully rical purpose.  I was also disappointedwith his slightly uninspiring performance of “Love You.”   However with those few hiccups, BLACKsummer’nightsis still a cut above what passes on the R&B charts today and is a welcome diversion especially for those who truly crave classic soul in their musical diet.  I also have to give props to producer/songwriter/musician Hod David, Maxwell’s longtime collaborator for keeping the instrumentation pretty much all the way live.    

As if Maxwell has completed his triumphant return, fans should be clamoring and probably curious to the follow-ups (tentatively set for2010 and 2011) for BLACKsummer’nights, the first of a promised trilogy.  At least for now, Maxwell has lived up to the mass hype surrounding him since he started hanging on the Urban Hang Suite. 

Peggy Oliver

The Urban Music Scene