Before Me [Digipak]

Performer: Gladys Knight
Artist: Joe Sample; Russell Malone; The Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra; Roy Hargrove; Chris Botti
Producer: Tommy LiPuma; Phil Ramone
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Gladys Knight (vocals); Jeff Mironov, Anthony Wilson , Russell Malone (guitar); David "Fathead" Newman (tenor saxophone); Chris Botti (trumpet); Roy Hargrove (flugelhorn); Joe Sample, Billy Childs (piano); David Finck, John Clayton, Christoph Luty (bass guitar); Jeff Hamilton , Mark McLean (drums); Joe Porcaro (percussion); The Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. To her considerable credit, Gladys Knight is forever seeking out fresh projects that push her in new stylistic directions. 2006's BEFORE ME is a case in point. The album features Knight performing a series of jazz standards as popularized by the likes of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald, each of whom proved a formative influence on Knight in her early years. Longtime fans of Knight may be surprised by her vocal approach here. In place of the earthy, textured soul attack for which she is best known is a comparatively reserved, sophisticated singing style that suits both the material and the legacy of her mentors. Versions of "God Bless the Child" and "Someone To Watch Over Me" are accomplished enough to bring new life to the songs, and to place Knight firmly in the tradition of the great female vocalists. At a time when most of her contemporaries are satisfied reliving their glory years to appreciative audiences in casinos and theaters, Gladys Knight continues her refusal to be pigeonholed as a soul singer. With 2000's At Last, she returned to the mainstream R&B circuit with a session of adult contemporary R&B that was equally accessible and refreshing, and with 2005's One Voice she collaborated with the Saints Unified Voices for a fiery gospel and praise record. So this time around, Knight recruited legendary producer Phil Ramone and an impressive lineup of jazz musicians to record an album of jazz ballads and standards that influenced her during the formative years of her singing career. At first, the prospect of Knight's soulful, gritty vocal styles taking on some of jazz's greatest moments may be a questionable proposal for jazz purists, but all hesitation can be safely swept aside during the album's opening moments, a fantastic rendition of the Ellington classic "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me." Gone are the grit and raspy nature of Knight's voice, and in their place is a smooth, sultry set of vocal cords safely in control of the delivery of the material. Every single song here is already a bona fide hit, and Knight does them all justice in a way few soul singers could. Wonderfully relaxing, classy, and pleasantly void of vocal histrionics, Before Me is another important chapter and highlight in a career that is chock-full of them. ~ Rob Theakston

JazzTimes (p.101) - "[T]he splendor of BEFORE ME isn't about echoing great voices of the past, but in hearing a great contemporary voice reborn."

Gladys Knight & the Pips began as a neo doo-wop group in the early 1960s, then moved to Motown, where Knight's gospel-influenced vocals were initially deemed a little too raw for Berry Gordy's hit-machine assembly line. In 1967 they scored a hit with the original version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," but it was soon eclipsed by Marvin Gaye's recording. However, the group eventually penetrated the pop mainstream (with the help of their own TV show) in the '70s, with huge hits including "Midnight Train to Georgia," and "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me." The group earned a Grammy as late as 1989, but split shortly thereafter, with Knight pursuing the inevitable solo career.

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