MTV Unplugged [EP] [PA]

Performer: Maxwell (R&B)
Engineer: Bill Plummer
Producer: Alex Coletti; MUSZE
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Maxwell (vocals); G/Mo (guitar); Gloria Agostini (harp); Gerald Tarack, Matthew Raimondi, Veronica Salas (violin); Susan Poliacik (cello); Andre Roberson (saxophone); Russell Gunn (trumpet); Darrell Smith (Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Michael Neal (bass); Kerry Griffin (drums); Angel Luis Figueroa (percussion); Michael Dickerson, La Tina Webb, Khaliq (background vocals). Recorded live at The Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Brooklyn, New York on May 7, 1997. "Whenever Whenever Whenever" was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Personnel: Maxwell (vocals); G-Mo, G (guitar); Gloria Agostini (harp); Gerald Tarack, Matthew Raimondi (violin); Veronica Salas (viola); Susan Poliacik (cello); Andre Roberson (saxophone); Russell Gunn (trumpet); Darrell Smith (Fender Rhodes piano); Kerry Griffin (drums); Angel Luis Figueroa (percussion); Latina Webb, Mike Dickerson, Khaliq (background vocals). Audio Mixer: Mike Pela. Recording information: Brooklyn Academy Of Music (05/07/1997). Director: Milt Lage. Photographers: Eric Johnson ; Frank Micelotta. Unknown Contributor Role: G. Arrangers: David Blumberg; Andre Roberson; Musze. Riding the wave of young turks delving into old-school soul that includes D'Angelo, Eryka Badu and Adriana Evans, Maxwell's URBAN HANG SUITE heralded the arrival of a balladeer who combined Al Green's seductiveness with Prince's sensuality. MTV UNPLUGGED shows off the live side of this young free spirit whose musical roots reach through the Quiet Storm into some pretty unlikely places. Throughout this EP, the arrangements are lush, the horns caress every groove and Maxwell's creamy falsetto ducks and feints through his own "Whenever Wherever Whatever" and "The Lady Suite." He also takes time to give props to Kate Bush with a crystalline reading of "This Woman's Work." Showing off a knack for the unorthodox, Maxwell closes out the festivities with a completely transformed cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" that moves from a jazz/funk workout to a gospel feel.

In the hip-hop mid 1990s, neo-traditionalist R&B singer Maxwell had the nerve to look back to the aesthetics of '70s soul for inspiration, specifically to the influence of Al Green and Marvin Gaye. More surprisingly, he was able to pull it off, becoming a mega-star after the release of his masterly debut, MAXWELL'S URBAN HANG SUITE, a concept album about monogamy that rejected male braggadocio and instead explored the theme of old-fashioned, romantic love. Since then, he's actively worked toward becoming even more of a latter-day Reverend Green, with songs that walk the tightrope between spirituality and sensuality.

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