Najee - My Point Of View (2005)

2015-09-30T16:12:24Z

Najee - My Point Of View (2005)


1 	Sidewayz 	5:33
2 	3 AM    Featuring – Will Downing	5:10
3 	Fallin' In Love With You    Featuring [Introducing] – Lomon	5:08
4 	Back In The Day 	4:37
5 	Charm 	3:29
6 	My Point Of View 	4:39
7 	2nd 2 None 	3:49
8 	Emotional    Featuring [Introducing] – Sisaundra	4:03
9 	How Lovely You Are 	5:15
10 	Miyuki 	3:55

Najee - flute, alto and soprano saxophones; 
Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis - keyboards and drum programming; 
Will Downing - lead and background vocals (2); 
 Wayne Bruice, Dwight Sills, Alvin White - guitar; 
Lomon - lead and background vocals (3); 
Rex Rideout - keyboards and programming (4); 
Dwayne ‘Smitty’ Smith -bass; 
Michael White and Greg Phillips - drums; 
James Lloyd - keyboards and programming (7); 
Sisaundra -lead and background vocals (8); 
Rohan Reid - bass guitar and background vocal arranger (8); 
Nathaniel ‘Crockett’ Wilkie - keyboards (8); 
Superb - guitar and drum programming; 
Khalil Parker - keyboards; 
Michael ‘Dre Boogie’ Edwards -bass guitar (10).

There's something about instrumentalists in contemporary jazz that can make a critical listener nervous. There's an expectation that the music will be bland, if not awful. Guitarists, bassists, and drummers don't seem to fall into this trap—at least not in great numbers. However, smooth jazz players of wind instruments seem almost invariably locked into creating formulaic music. It's as if executives have decided that if the word "programming isn't among the credits, an album isn't worth producing.

One of the latest victims of this practice is Najee. His new release, My Point of View, is a hybrid. In its attempt to please two crowds, it is at once a typical smooth jazz album and a straight R&B disc. Both genres favor the "voice —either vocals or lead instrument—and don't seem to care what the supporting musicians sound like.

Of course, not all programming is bad. Marcus Miller has proven time and again that the right mix of technology and musicianship can be a beautiful thing. Others who have striven to make their programs sound not so much like programs include Rick Braun, Keith Newton, and Russ Freeman. Unfortunately, none of them appear on Najee's album.

Still, despite misgivings about drums that don't sound like drums on seven of the ten tracks, My Point of View is a likeable album. Najee's experience carries him for the most part. He began playing professionally at age fifteen. Over the years, he has established himself as one of smooth jazz's most prominent sax voices. And My Point of View certainly is within Najee's zone, mixing elements of mild funk, contemporary R&B, and light jazz. Supported by a variable cast that consists mainly of keyboardist/programmers (who wrote or co-wrote eight of the songs), a few guitarists, and three guest vocalists, Najee delivers a pleasant collection of danceable and romantic grooves. Among the best of these are the opener, "Sidewayz, which features Najee on flute, and "2nd 2 None, with the artist on alto saxophone.

However, from a straightforward contemporary jazz perspective, the best song is "Emotional. The sound is made cleaner by the presence of Greg Phillips on drums and Rohan Reid getting one of the few—make that minuscule—bass credits. Penned by Najee, his brother Fareed, Reid, and newcomer Sisaundra, "Emotional is a charming piece that fits perfectly in the urban jazz mode but could be equally at home as straight R&B or smooth jazz. Sisaundra delivers a powerful performance as lead singer. Her voice is like a composite of Toni Braxton, Chaka Khan, and Aretha Franklin, but with her own soulful qualities.

If you're not bothered by synthesized drums, you'll love this album. If, on the other hand, programming turns you off, you might want to skip it. My Point of View is nice, but it would have been much better if the artist had expressed himself free from the corporate forces that favor synths over instruments. ---Woodraw Wilkins, allaboutjazz.com

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Najee - The Smooth Side Of Soul (2012)

2012-02-04T12:54:41Z

Najee - The Smooth Side Of Soul (2012)


01 – Dis N’ Dat
02 – Just To Fall In Love (Feat Phil Perry)
03 – Perfect nites		play
04 – You Tube		play
05 – In The Clouds
06 – One Night In Soho
07 – Mari
08 – Fu Fu She She (Feat. Chris Big Dog Davis)
09 – First Kiss (Feat. Jeff Lorber)
10 – Sound For Sore Ears (Feat. James Lloyd)

Multi-award winner Najee is one of contemporary jazz’s long-standing ambassadors and continues to challenge himself with respect towards his fan base that has further translated to his overall industry longevity. As a lifelong fan of R&B and jazz music, Jerome Najee Rasheed decided to follow his musical childhood inspirations while developing his woodwind skills. Along the way, the New York native hooked up with the education powerhouse Jazz-mobile program - co-founded by jazz legend Dr. Billy Taylor and woodwind mentors, Jimmy Heath (The Heath Brothers) and Harold Jones from the New York Philharmonic. Brother Fareed also played a major role in Najee’s musical path as a fellow student with Najee at The New England Conservatory of Music, as a fellow musician and producer and currently as Najee’s manager.

Besides this incredible support system, Najees' always hungry attitude would bring a wealth of collaborations. His early years were focused more in the R&B world, first gaining major exposure with Chaka Khan and Freddie Jackson. Najee was a frequent contributor to other recording classics including Live at The Greek with Larry Carlton, Stanley Clarke and Billy Cobham, and two Prince projects, Rainbow Children and One Night Alone Live. Yet it was his ability to balance R&B with jazz which earned him NAACP Image and Soul Train Awards, plus consistently topped the charts in both genres over a course of fifteen albums for EMI, Heads Up and Polygram Records, while a major host of friends came on board like Will Downing and George Duke.

Now joined with the Shanachie Entertainment family, Najee flexes his woodwind dexterity and radiates pure bliss for jazz and R&B on his label debut, The Smooth Side of Soul. Whether riding on a groove or creating attractive ballads, Najee and his solid guest list, aligned by veteran urban producer/musician Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis and a contemporary jazz pioneer Jeff Lorber, delivers on all cylinders. “Dis N’ Dat” finds Najee and James Lloyd (Pieces of a Dream) feeling the hard-hitting funk from the bottom up; introduced properly with a fiercely crackling and popping bass. Phil Perry’s delicious and passionate tenor fully compliments Najees' dancing saxophones and flute for the house music injected first single, “Just to Fall in Love.” “One Night in Soho” honors the Soho districts of New York and London, supplying plenty of tight dance funk backbeats. Najee and Davis’ playful interaction and snappy phrasing are a one-two knock out punch for “Fu Fu She She,” laid down by Davis’ mild hip-hop ambiances. Najee’s lyricism is the focal point for the jazzy R&B kissed soundscapes of “You Tube,” the atmospheric waltz, “In the Clouds” and the caressing, picturesque Latin edged “Mari.” In a tasteful tribute to Jimmy Heath, The Smooth Side of Soul rightfully concludes with Najee and Lloyd digging into some muscular be-bop, courtesy of Heath’s composition - “Sound for Sore Ears.”

This is a rare happening when I can frankly conclude that The Smooth Side of Soul is an assured hit from beginning to end. To this day, Najees' overall body of work with his classy tones, incredible musicianship and woodwind mastery are precious musical treats to savor time and again. Five out of five stars. --- Peggy Oliver, reviews.theurbanmusicscene.com

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