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Word must be getting around about Wade O.
Brown. How else can you explain collaborations by Barry Eastman (Anita Baker, Phil Perry), Kipper Jones (Kenny Lattimore, Vanessa Williams) Daryl Simmons (Boyz II Men, Babyface), and SoulTracks favorite Gordon Chambers on Brown's independently released second album, All Night All Love? Well, their interest in working on the album is understandable. Brown certainly has the pipes and on All Night All Love he makes the case for himself as a successor to the great late night singers of the 80s, from Luther to Peabo. He possesses an engaging, slightly raspy baritone and a very good sense of the material he's covering, whether it is a seductive love song or a muscular dance number.
There's a strong "old school" feel in Brown's material on All Night, from the light disco of the title track to the smooth mid-tempo "Besides" to his 70s soul tribute "Now Is Mine" (complete with a liberal sample of the Isleys' "Footsteps In the Dark"), and Brown sounds completely at home in this genre. But the album's best moments are the more modern mid-tempos "Maybe" and "About Her," a lyrically interesting song about a man's unspoken interest in a harried single mother. Most of the rest of the disc is less compelling lyrically, generally covering the usual make love and dance stuff, but musically is quite good. And Brown proves himself a fine, romantic soul singer - one who should have real appeal to Luther's legion of fans. Recommended.
By Chris Rizik