Sacd Bill Withers

Bill Withers created mellow, downhome-style soul for barely more than a decade before retreating from the industry to pursue craftsman interests. Yet over the course of the handful of albums he made for Sussex and CBS, the Appalachian native struck lasting emotional chords in legends ranging from Booker T. Jones to Stephen Stills – not to mention the millions of listeners that fell under the spell of now-standard tracks such as "Lean on Me," "Use Me," and "Ain't No Sunshine." The antithesis of the sweaty R&B shouter that prowled the edge of stages, Withers dealt in calm and vulnerability, qualities that come to fore on the seminal Bill Withers' Greatest Hits. Characteristics ranging from the tension of the guitars, funky bends of the bass, whisper-soft coo of the formal strings, airiness of the backing harmonies, and sharpness of the snare drum emerge with utmost clarity and lifelike presence. Always prized for its naked honesty and pure conviction, Withers' music positively caresses the senses on this SACD, the unadulterated production and beautiful soundscapes revealed anew with each listen.

At only ten tracks, Greatest Hits is a little brief and doesn't contain much of his earliest material, but it remains a first-rate compilation of Bill Withers' prime hits, featuring "Use Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Lean on Me", "Who Is He (And What Is He to You)", and "Just the Two of Us".

Despite the import of the occasion - an October 1972 night at America's most prestigious hall - what really impresses about Bill Withers' Live at Carnegie Hall is the good feeling and sense of interplay passed between the star, his band, and the audience. From the surpassingly casual opening of "Use Me" and its build through eight-plus minutes and an extended ending to the complexity and occasional joy of Withers's socio-personal "Lean on Me", "I Can't Write Left-Handed", and a medley of "Harlem" and "Cold Bologna", Carnegie is an underappreciated document of what for a moment was progressive R&B. Always one of music's most humble performers, Withers quietly, intensely proves his mettle over the length of this album.

16 tracks of "80's Hits" compilation from Sony Music Hong Kong Ltd. Featured artists are Rick Astley, Cyndi Lauper, Eurythmics, Toto, Billy Ocean, Whitney Houston, and many more.

Grover Washington, Jr., has long been one of the leaders in what could be called rhythm & jazz, essentially R&B-influenced jazz. Winelight is one of his finest albums, and not primarily because of the Bill Withers hit "Just the Two of Us." It is the five instrumentals that find Washington (on soprano, alto, and tenor) really stretching out. If he had been only interested in sales, Washington's solos could have been half as long and he would have stuck closely to the melody. Instead he really pushes himself on some of these selections, particularly the title cut. A memorable set of high-quality and danceable soul-jazz.

Given the sped-up classic soul samples with which Kanye West has made his mark, it comes as no surprise that the producer/rapper would pick a tradition-minded R&B singer as his first big pet project. Legend first made his name on Philly's incense-clouded, '70s-obsessed neo-soul scene, then found his way to New York and became West's right-hand man in the studio. His patron's pop smarts serve Legend well–while many contemporary R&B records rely too heavily on a singer's cadence and skill to carry underdeveloped tunes.