Hart Ramsey | Charge It To My Heart
Hart Ramsey | Charge It To My Heart
Hart Ramsey, a talented music producer and keyboardist shifts his focus from producing and playing for others in favor of releasing his own solo album, Charge It To My Heart. Charge It To My Heart could be summed up as being a ‘smooth jazz’ album for the most part, but with Ramsey’s restlessness for incorporating ideas from idioms outside of smooth jazz, it is more than just smooth jazz. Here, elements of R&B, gospel, and rock cross paths on numerous cuts making Charge It To My Heart quite an enthralling listen throughout. Sure, some‘sameness’ given the repetitive nature of smooth jazz rears it’s ugly head, but given Ramsey’s musicianship and ambition with including so many stylistic turns at times, Charge it to My Heart is never a bore.
The album opens up with the crisply produced “What About Love,”featuring saxophonist Kelley O’Neal. The programming and keyboard work by Ramsey is exceptional throughout and O’Neal’s saxophone solos are both creative and soulful. “What About Love” proves to be a ‘grand’ opener. “Be Attitude,” similarly is inspired, with Ramsey exploiting his piano skills more overtly here than “What About Love.” Smartly, programming is mixed in the background during Ramsey’s solos, adding a nice touch to the production. The slap bass is very appropriate here, setting the ‘attitude’ as the title of the cut prescribes.
“Archangel,” a personal favorite featuring guitarist Rick Watford, maybe be the valedictory moment of Charge it to My Heart. Ramsey’s production work, programming, and concept of sound are quite creative and prodigious here. The clever background horns (synthesized) show a high watermark for this album, not to mention Watford’s top-rate guitar playing. Ramsey’s ‘comping’ throughout the solos is also incredibly inspired by all means.
“Be Who You Made Me To Be” features background vocals, which adds a ‘R&B’ component to this album. The cut is lengthy at 5:46, but there is more than enough ‘ear-candy’ hear to grab the listener’s attention. As always, Ramsey lets the music simmer and grow gradually as opposed to overtly, which is a pro for the most part. “I Found In You” is unique, given it’s complexity, which contrast previous straight-ahead tracks. Here, the melody may be odd, but it is strikingly beautiful passed from the hands of Ramsey on the keys to the saxophonist. “I Found In You” is another creative, enjoyable cut from Ramsey.
“Pray Before You Go,” featuring guitarist Eric Essix, is a standout cut by all means, notable for its crisp production and tight rhythm section.Rhythmic guitar mixed in the background gives this cut a funky edge,not to mention the superb solos from both Essix and Ramsey. “Keep Showing Up” may not be revolutionary or as solid as “Pray Before You Go,” but it is another strong cut that should not be skipped over. “Longing (Instrumental)” is a solid as anything else (a vocal version appears at the end of the album), though “Fitly Joined Together” is more interesting with interspersed bluesy piano breaks by Ramsey stealing the show. My only quibble would be that I wished Ramsey would have broke out of the smooth jazz style and completely absorbed the whole production work in the bluesy-gospel derived style which he plays on the piano himself.
“Something New” featuring Phil Davis is solid, though not as distinctive as signature cuts here. “Centerpiece,” one of those ‘signature’ cuts features more aggressive and distinct production work, truly assimilating to more ‘urban’ production work than previous cuts. Here, a shocking electric guitar solo brings in a rock component to this cut, continuing to show just how fresh and creative Ramsey is as a musician and producer. “You Are My Life” proves similarly to be surprising, delving into contemporary gospel with what proves to be quite a spiritual and uplifting cut. Here, beautiful background vocals coupled with traces of organ and superb saxophone improvisations makes this another satisfactory cut. Final cut “Longing” (with background vocals this go-round) is a fine closing cut. The background vocals add another dimension to the instrumental version that appeared earlier on the album.
Essentially, my hat goes off to Hart Ramsey. This album is a superb album that transcends smooth jazz by incorporating various styles and ideas. This album is good ‘background’ music but also good ‘forefront’ music, which is more than I can say for all smooth jazz. I highly recommend Hart Ramsey’s Charge It To My Heart to all smooth jazz listeners and to those who embrace albums encompassing numerous styles.
Brent Faulkner
The Urban Music Scene