Timeless

We Say...

Review by Charles Farrell

One of the great losses in contemporary music is the demise of the form of black popular music that was a hybrid of jazz and rhythm & blues. It appeared just after the Second World War as a cultural correlative to an emerging black middle class. Vocalists like Dinah Washington, Nat Cole and Ray Charles stayed close to their roots in blues, church music and jazz, but added an element of sophistication with ambitious arrangements and lush orchestration. The form stayed on the mainstream radar until the early to mid 1960s, after which it virtually disappeared.

Maybe Chuck Brown’s album Timeless is the closest thing to the idiom recorded after 1970. Chuck, the undisputed champion of the DC regional music Go-Go Swing, knows everything about establishing a sense of community through performance. Here he takes a step back in time, combining the rough hewn street wisdom of Bobby Womack with the smooth phrasing of Joe Williams. Lounge organ, slick guitar and jazzy piano breaks round out the picture. Timeless is made up of 12 tracks, mostly standards. "Nature Boy" kicks things off with an irresistible groove, setting the tone for what is to follow. Brown sings in a rich baritone, nailing down lyrics with absolute authority. "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" is just as certain a blues as you’re likely to hear anywhere (with plenty of space for good solos). There’s no letup after that. "I Only Have Eyes For You" is a textbook of vocal phrasing. And "Hey There," a hit vehicle for Rosemary Clooney, is an emotionally absorbing ballad. Irving Berlin’s "Blue Skies" becomes a provocative rumba. Chuck Brown’s Go-Go Swing may come out of early '70s horn-based funk, but his music always embraced what was to follow, welcoming rap and hip-hop. On Timeless, he shows how deep his roots go in the other direction.