Genre
Smooth jazz and jazz-pop. The album maintains Franks's signature blend of wry, observational lyrics and the relaxed, liquid vocal delivery set against polished, studio-crafted arrangements featuring Joe Sample, Bob James, and Jimmy Haslip of the Yellowjackets. A notable exception to the album's breezy tone is "Mr. Smooth," a pointed satirical commentary on Broadcast Architecture's dominance of American smooth jazz radio.
Release
Released on June 1, 1999, by Windham Hill Jazz. It was Franks's fourteenth studio album and his first and only release on Windham Hill - marking the end of his long association with Warner Bros./Reprise Records, which had begun with "The Art of Tea" in 1976. Guest vocalists include Valerie Simpson, who duets with Franks on "Now Love Has No End."
Production
Production was shared between Chuck Loeb and Jimmy Haslip, who produced the remaining tracks and played bass and percussion. Bob James contributed piano to track 6. Engineers were Dennis Wall and Phil Magnotti; mixing at Bearsville Studios, Woodstock, New York. Individual sessions took place at Automotive Recording (Irvington, NY), Clinton Recording (New York City), Make Believe Ballroom (West Shokan, NY), and Remidi Studi.
Reception
AllMusic reviewer Jonathan Widran praised the album warmly, noting that Franks had been "growing as an observational lyricist while his relaxed demeanor stays pretty much the same, and charmingly so," and concluding that it is "the kind of spring in your step music Franks fashioned his career out of.
Michael Franks
Michael Franks (born September 18, 1944, La Jolla, California) is an American smooth jazz singer-songwriter whose deceptively understated style — warm, dry, lyrically precise — has made him one of the most enduring cult figures in jazz-pop. He studied English literature at UCLA and the University of California at Santa Barbara, and launched his recording career with "The Art of Tea" (1976), which introduced his hallmarks: sumptuous jazz-pop arrangements, elliptical romantic lyrics, and a vocal persona so unhurried it seems barely to breathe. His songs have been recorded by the Manhattan Transfer, Carmen McRae, Patti LaBelle, Diana Krall, the Carpenters, and Shirley Bassey. He has collaborated with David Sanborn, Brenda Russell, Art Garfunkel, and Patti Austin. He continues to record and perform.
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