The sparks, the synergy, the synchronizing of two heads and hearts on the bumpy path to ‘Love Always’….getting there as partners is part of the fun and that’s what’s heard in this exhilarating confection of jazz and soul. Najee continues to surround himself with an enviable peer set (Alex Bugnon, Robert Damper) that enhances his gifts to assemble a mesmerizing meld of fresh and familiar songs. Ambrosia’s “Biggest Part Of Me,” vocalized with Chuck Johnson, is pretty faithul to the original, featuring Najee’s bold sax interplay throughout, and Andrea Wallace’s soprano in the mid tempo “Giving It All We Got” hovers between tentative and taken with the prospect of a lasting love. The pulsating “Air” offers exactly like what is implied: gliding flutes and glistening key strokes keeping time alongside Najee’s sax to illustrate the dizzying feel of pursuing and being pursued, while the revisitation of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Wave” unfurls like surrender to a long-awaited rendezvous.
If You, Me and Forever seems to skip around stylistically (pop, contemporary jazz, vintage soul), the carousel feel works because its mimicking the dance of love and its many dips and swerves: “Fly With The Wind” pairs Najee and Bugnon, taut keyboard and smooth sax action, on an album highlight and one of its most irresistible jams…..(please click here to read the full-length review at soultracks.com)
