Renowned, chart-topping guitarist Tim Bowman has a way of
making melding smooth jazz, gospel, soul and blues seem effortless as evidenced
throughout his more than 30 years in music, including his 2017, seventh studio
album, Into the Blue, on I.M. Records & Purpose Jazz. The Detroit native, who
grew up playing guitar in church, attended the College of Creative Studies, and
served as the musical director for gospel luminaries the Winans before
embarking on his solo career in 1987, continues to carve a niche for himself. I
like the romantic music, the more bluesy styles, the smooth grooves, Bowman
says, but what I wanted to do on this album is put all of those on one record,
have something for everybody.
Bowman succeeds in his mission and has scored his
fifth No.1 single with City Lights, Into the Blue's debut single, a feel good,
smooth jazz instrumental that showcases his intricate strumming technique. The
set also includes other smooth jazz standouts, Seaside Drive, originally
released in 2013, and a soulful cover of Charlie Wilson s Grammy-nominated
single You Are.
Amazing Grace Party, featuring Jonathan DuBose Jr. and Tim
Bowman Jr., is another favorite. While there have been multitudes of varying
renditions of Christian hymn Amazing Grace, first published in 1779, Bowman s
blues-meets-funk version is truly a uniquely, infectious production that segues
into the Negro spiritual Wade in the Water before transforming into a full on
contemporary gospel jam session. Bowman was determined to bring his vision of
the song to life.
After recording the other tracks, he called upon his
traveling band to help him complete the song. We went into the studio and three
hours later, we had it, he explains. Tim Bowman Jr. s vocals on Amazing Grace
Party fell into place more easily. He s just a versatile singer, Bowman says of
his son, who completed his recordings while visiting his house. I told him, You
need to go down to the studio and listen to the song, Bowman recalls.
Forty-five minutes later, he called me and that s what he had. Incorporating a
special element of funk was also something important to Bowman, hence the song
Detroit Funk, a collaboration from the newly formed group TMC that includes
Bowman, former Pleasure guitarist Marlon McClain, and Cordell Walton, musical
director for Charlie Wilson.
Conceptually, the album s biggest takeaway is the
reoccurring theme of affection captured throughout the collection in the
prominent use of the spanish guitar and endearing ballads sung by perfectly
suited featured vocalists Stokley ( All I Need is Love ) and Angela Johnson (
My Heart To You ). All I Need is Love, in particular, is a captivating, love
song very personal to Bowman. I wanted to have a song that says how I feel
about my life and my wife, he says. I just wanted to tell the story about what really
matters. To me, it s not about being rich or poor, successful or not.
The
bottom line is love. Bowman's spanish guitar was an obvious choice for the
ballads. When I pick up that nylon string guitar, the first thing that comes to
mind is romance, he adds, citing his performance on Into the Blue songs Tan
Hermosa (So Beautiful) and Love Forever More. It s just more of a melodic,
romantic instrument to me because of the tone of it. My goal has always been to
create music that genuinely connects with people. I ve always tried to make
music that people could get lost into, he says. I wanted to take a ride and
tell a story and hope every melody is a melody that they can take home and
whistle, something that grabs them and does not let them go. Tim has done just
that with Into the Blue.
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