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Will Downing
The`80s and `90s introduced a number of suave and stylish soul men to the music world. However, the passage of time has imperatively proven that one man has weathered the storms of shifting tastes and industry longevity to stake his claim as heir to the throne of silky soul royalty. That man is Will Downing, the sensual musical masseuse of the midnight hour and a favorite of discriminating women the world over. In possession of the smoothest, most soothing baritone in all of rhythm and romance, he is a descendant of jazzy soul vocal artists Anita Baker, Luther Vandross and Barry White. For his 12th CD, multi-million-seller Will Downing offers deeply penetrating strokes of passion via his latest masterpiece, Soul Symphony. Produced by Will Downing with longtime collaborators Rex Rideout, Chris Davis and Ronnie Garrett, Soul Symphony consists of the sexy opener "Put Me On," the creamy overture "What's It Gonna Be" (co-penned by Brian McKnight with Brandon Barnes, and featuring tasty guitar by Chuck Loeb), the cool Chicago stepper's lark "Soul Steppin'" (a sequel to "Rhythm of U & Me" from his previous album, Emotions), the sweet backbeat soul of Crazy Love” and a thought-provoking gem about the arc of passion titled "A Promise." There are also three profoundly moving original compositions of Will’s: "Make Time For Love," "Will Still Loves You" and "Heart of Mine." The icing on the cake: a tribute to the late, great Luther Vandross via a cover of his classic arrangement of Leon Russell's "Superstar." Soul Symphony is Will Downing doing what he does best: windsurfing the space between sumptuous soul love songs and lushly harmonic jazz-informed arrangements. The "symphonic" aspect of his latest CD's title references his penchant for live instrumentation. "I've been saving the title Soul Symphony for a while now," Will Downing states. "I always try to do things soulful and contemporary jazz-tinged. But on this record, we spent more on live players than ever." That can be considered budget well utilized, including masterful string arrangements by David Blumberg (whose resume of clients includes Quincy Jones, Marvin Gaye, Leon Ware, Maxwell and Ray Charles' Grammy-winning Genius Loves Company).
