As the world’s deals with the current pandemic, some singers are still readily releasing music. No stranger to cover albums, Dru Hill & Playa member Smoke E. Digglera drifts away from R & B to show off his vocal chops on his new album, A Juke Joint. Taking on jazz standards is a difficult undertaking for any singer. When Smoke announced the free project earlier this week, I initially thought he would modernize the songs or give them a hip hop feel.
To my surprise, Smoke generally keeps the same vibe of the original versions while singing the songs in a modern jazz style. The first song is his Smoke’s take on Robert Alda’s Luck Be a Lady. Music purists know the song from the musical Guys and Dolls. Smoke sings his version with smooth tenor with sprinkles of a rich baritone. I feel that this version would feel right at home on an episode of Godfather of Harlem.
Smoke’s version of Nat King Coles ‘Tis Autumn was also a surprise. Avoiding the pitfalls that some cover singers make when invoking Cole, Smoke uses his vocal to guide through the song with a natural flair. Ray Eberle’s “Imagination” and Kaye Ballard’s “Fly Me to the Moon” (later popularized by Frank Sinatra) were also enjoyable.
The standout track, though for me on this project, would have to be Smoke’s take on George Michel’s “Kissing a Fool.” Keeping the song’s original minimal instrumentation intact, gives the listener a chance to see how strong of a vocalist Smoke is.
I’ve been a fan of Smoke’s since his group Playa dropped their still classic solo album, Cheers 2 U in 1998. Throughout a fourteen year solo career that spans eight solo albums Smoke E. Digglera continues to provide fans with real R&B. As fans officially await his debut album with Dru Hill, a cover album of jazz standard will do just fine. The EP is available for free download at Smoke’s official site store.smokedigglera.com.
Final Grade B+
This week’s Second Listen Sunday pick takes us back to 2006 to revisit “So Amazin’,” the third album from Christina Milian. Arriving in stores on April 19 of that year, the project was produced largely by Cool & Dre, sans one song, and saw the singer earn writing credits on nine of the album’s songs.
For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I want to showcase love for Rahsaan Patterson and his album track “Can We Wait a Minute” from his self-titled debut album, released in 1997.
For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I wanted to take a trip back to 2000 and show some love to the R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo and their third album, “X,” which was released in stores on December 5, just in time for a holiday stocking stuffer. Arguably, the group suffered from the sophomore slump with their second album, as only two singles were successful.
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