Amazon.com Customer Reviews
Uniquely Bob Baldwin. - Review written on March 12, 2008
Rating: 5 out of 5
6 customers found this review helpful, 15 did not.
Bob Baldwin has a sound that is uniquely his own and is easily recognizable. His sound is also some of the best smooth jazz available, and this latest effort is no exception. With this CD, Bob Baldwin features guest musicians who are renowned in their own right, however, these guest add little support as the Bob Baldwin sound is just that good. The recording quality of this CD deserves special mention as every instrument in all frequencies can be heard with stunning clarity. While in Washington, D.C. recently, I discovered that the smooth jazz station no longer exist. The reason it does not exist is that it had good DJs, but terrible programming. I never heard a Bob Baldwin composition on the D.C. smooth jazz station. Had they played music like this, they would still be in business. At any rate, this is a stellar effort deserving to be included in your collection.
Enjoyable. - Review written on March 09, 2008
Rating: 4 out of 5
16 customers found this review helpful, 2 did not.
Fusing elements of funk, soul, jazz, hip-hop and R&B, the renowned keyboardist continues to crank out the funky grooves with his latest release, "NewUrbanJazz.com".
"Always thinking ahead, Baldwin boldly asserted the power of Internet marketing when he called his 2000 release "BobBaldwin.com".
And he gets back to that concept (while ostensibly creating a new subgenre of smooth jazz) by calling his spirited, melodic, slightly old-school, coolly funky 2008 disc "NewUrbanJazz.com"..AllMusic.
Also he has added a bit more variety to his music and some great vocals to the mix, resulting in his most mature release to date.
Guest vocalists like Freddie Jackson, Phil Perry and Jocelyn Brown break up the instrumental tracks with some good R&B.
He gets some great help from contemporary jazz cats like Najee and Maron Meadows.
The keyboardist also introduces listeners and fans to versatile newcomers like indie music star Frank McComb and rapper Della Croche.
Overall, the sound has more contemporary touches with drum loops and the like but without losing that nineties retro feel.
There's probably something here for everyone - from gutsy funk to funky/jazzy grooves and deep soulmoves.
Bob's deeply funky, intelligent keyboard bass lines are guaranteed to get the backbone twitching whatever else is going on.
Entertaining stuff.