Will Downing | Classique | TheUrbanMusicScene.com

Will Downing – Classique

Sometimes a glass of sweet soul music from back in the day can still hit the spot even as many of today’s top-charting urban tracks are filled with high-tech, auto-tuned vocals and rap-saturated sexual innuendos. There are also the soul troubadours like Will Downing, who is surely appreciated by his faithful fans and the neo-soul connoisseur for remaining true to his classy soulful craft for over twenty years strong. Unfortunately, the radio exposure for his contemporary jazz/R&B flavor has surely subsided through the years. “They only play it at night, and then I do not get the radio and listener play that could be possible,” Downing told Ebony Man back in 1998. Yet his following remains stronger than ever because of many rock-solid musical assets.

His creamy baritone voice melts in the ear with plenty of romantic odes. He can throw down with some jazzier upbeat jams. Finally, he has an innate ability to balance both new compositions and soul music from the archives. In fact, some of his significant hits are highly-recognizable R&B and jazz covers: “Stop Look Listen To Your Heart” (The Stylistics); “Free” (Deniece Williams); “Wishing On A Star” (Rose Royce); “I Try” (Angela Bofill); and the standard jazz torch song “When Sunny Gets Blue”. The track that got the ball rolling for Downing was “A Love Supreme,” a spicy salsa-tinged version of the John Coltrane modern jazz masterpiece that peaked at number four on the Billboard Magazine’s Hot Dance Club Play in 1988 from his self-titled debut.

In reaching his destiny as one of the finest sophisticated soul stylists today, as demonstrated on his latest disc Classique, his climb to the top was slow but sure. His faithfulness in pursuing his dream during his childhood to adjusting with an illness that could have been more devastating than his lack ofradio exposure in the past decade is a testimony to Downing’s strong character and musical longevity.

During his school days, a teacher encouraged Downing to sing with the well-respected Brooklyn (New York) Borough Wide Chorus. It turned out his parents volunteered him for the program, but Downing never regretted the opportunity. The singer/songwriter graduated in 1981 from Brooklyn’s Erasmus Hall High School, one of the top performing arts schools in the country, whose alumni includes Barbara Streisand and opera legend Beverly Sills. A fellow class member, Kedar Massenburg, who heads up Kedar Entertainment, nurtured neo-soul singer Erykah Badu.

After graduating, Downing was an in-demand background vocalist throughout the eighties with R&B greats Kool & The Gang & Stephanie Mills. There was also the hardcore dance club music persona of Downing who recorded a series of twelve-inch singles under different names. He was also featured with Wally Jump Jr. & The Criminal Element, a vocal group produced by freestyle electro funk music producer Arthur Baker, who later on linked with DJ/producer Afrika Bambaataa & the British dance/pop group New Order. Downing then initiated his solo recording phase first as an R&B/pop dance artist on Island Records as his debut disc dropped “A Love Supreme” that drew more love in Europe than in his homeland.

By his third disc, Downing wanted to stretch his vocal chords and tackle more sophisticated urban music. The record company differed, yet the creative change in direction on A Dream Fulfilled resulted in Downing’s dream coming true with such gems as “I Go Crazy” and “The World Is A Ghetto.” The U.S. fan base also started buying his records in bigger droves. Since that 1991 landmark, Downing has pretty much stuck to his sophisticated urban mix through all the shifting trends in the R&B/soul industry. He is presently joined in good company with other smooth stylists like Peabo Bryson, Howard Hewitt, Regina Belle and Anita Baker. Besides the aforementioned cover hits, some of Downing’s other calling cards are “Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This” (a duet with the song’s composer Rachelle Farrell), “A Million Ways,” “Crazy Love” and “When You Need Me” (with Chante Moore). However, the smooth journey of Downing was interrupted in 2006 by a muscular disorder that could have seriously altered his personal attitude and his professional life.

Downing was able to beat the odds of this disease that has now left him in a wheelchair without impacting his tender baritone. Classique – his fourteenth disc once again shows off his warm voice with his own compositions and more blasts from the past in a classic R&B way sprinkled with jazz subtleties. I enjoyed a great deal of this Peak Records release, but I will just give the Urban Music Scene readers some appetizers.

“Something Special” (see video above) and “Just Think About It” are provided with silky orchestrations and velvety backing vocals that captures the essence of sophisticated soul at its best. With three pieces from the urban vaults, Downing always manages to match the integrity of the original version, if not sometimes surpass it. First is Barry White’s first hit from 1973 – “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby.” Downing does not quite have Barry’s vocal grit, but he slips in some delectable scat on this jazz-kissed version towards the end. “Statue Of A Fool,” a country hit by Jack Green in 1969, was also a sweet soul hit by Motown artist David Ruffin. Last but never least, the “Blows My Mind” award goes to Phil Perry adds his astounding voice and monumental falsetto for “Baby I’m For Real,” a rare gem originally arranged by Marvin Gaye for another Motown act The Originals.

To sum up Classique, Downing indeed ties a bow to twenty years of unadulterated soul music without any form of compromise to what appeals to most fans today. For that, may Downing keep on keeping on for his loyal fans despite what any radio station dictates. Highly Recommended.

Peggy Oliver

The Urban Music Scene