Comments:
Ronny Jordan is to hip-hop/jazz, what Santana is to rock and Benson to Jazz-Pop. Although its too bad that Ronny doesn't sing or at least scat (rap even), he's gathered a trio of vocalists that you're likely to be happy to compromise with: Fay Simpson (Keep Your Head Up), Sy Smith (Once or Twice), and rapper Love-Child on two tracks (Get Ready! And You Talk Too Much). The latter's repetition of a single lyric is rhythmic in the intro track, but becomes tiresome the second time around.

Produced with the right genre mix for this reviewer's tastes, Jordan's newest release, his second with Blue Note and fifth overall, is almost too sophisticated to hop in with contemporary R&B, pop and rap; and a little too hip for jazz and easy listeners. In other words, this record is just right for a Fall Sunday brunch in your Brooklyn backyard with a group of close friends you just don't get to see anymore, because you all have kids now and are starting to move out to the suburbs. Buying this record will keep you in tune with the cosmopolitan scene, even if your aspirations to youthful frivolity have faded away and you are now limited to merely working in Manhattan.

As with practically every record out now, there are even two tracks, On and Off the Record, that feature a turntable inspired backbeat from DJ Spinna. The results are just the kind of tracks one wants to hear inside velvet cordoned clubs and endemic lounges with long mahogany bars and an assortment of plush couches and chairs where you can forget the day and slowly savor a $10 glass of champagne.