Review:

on 2012-03-07 Carlita Said:

It's very likely you may have seen her face and long, curly hair in the 1990's but might not remember where. She was the singing half of the duo, Groove Theory, who scored hits in that decade with "Tell Me" and "Keep Tryin", catchy enough to hear repeatedly and may or may not have been in my "sing in the shower" rotation. Through the years, regretfully admit I lost touch of her career until she was the opening act of one of the shows I went to during Prince's 21 nite stand in LA. Prince in his infinite wisdom selected choice artists to get the unpredictable party started each weekend and she fit the smooth jazz bill that night. Her mellow yet alluring flow caught my ears' attention and left me vowing to explore her discography further.

Began with her debut album, "Infinite Possibilities", which she wrote, co-produced and played several of the instruments on, and I can't believe I slept on this. It might have been easy to pass this one by, as it unfortunately didn't get as much buzz as some of the other neo-soul releases of the time but listening in retrospect, it was just as relevant. Blurring the contemporary line between jazz and R&B before it was popular to do so, she beckoned you into the album, perfect for a lazy, Sunday afternoon or a chill, Friday night at home with a glass of wine. My favorite tracks include "Sweet Misery" about the agony of cheating, "Get Up" describing corporate drudgery and its light and avant-garde video gets an honorable mention for originality, acid jazz inflected "Down", and concluding the album, "Make Me Whole", a soft piano dedication to her husband. Was pretty impressed with her riffing on most of the tracks overall and got the sense she was only scratching the surface of her infinite artistic possibilities.

Rating: 7/10