Collaborations

Jill Scott gathered all great guest perfomances

Jill Scott has a joyously powerful, yet refined voice that's pretty much unmistakable and makes her one of the best RandB singers of our time. And over the years - even before she released her first solo album - Jill's been turning in great guest performances. And now many of those performances have been gathered and released as a 14-track album titled Collaborations. One of the best things about the album is how consistent Jill's performances are, despite the various levels of talent of the people she recorded the songs with. Besides Jill Scott the compilation includes: George Benson (vocals, guitar), Al Jarreau, The Isley Brothers (vocals), Will Smith(rap vocals, programming), Common, Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco (rap vocals), Chris Botti (trumpet), Sergio Mendes (keyboards). Because of this great quantity of musicians the album turned to be different in style. The leaps from hip-hop to neo-soul to jazz to pop might threaten stylistic whiplash, but it is a testament to Scott's skill as an artist that the album plays like a singular, very enjoyable entity.

Collaborations isversatile work

The album begins and ends with the song Love Rain, which is recorded in two different interpretations. The second song Daydreaming is consisted of Lupe Fiasco’s rap and smoth Jill’s voice in a nice tuneful chorus. Good Morning Heartache is one of the most sofisticated compositions of this compilation because of Chris Botti’s trumpet solo part. The most tender songs are Let Me, with a beatiful, simple, bittersweet melody, and Sometime I Wonder – a duet of Jill and mellow voiced Darius Rucker. The Rain is a kind of sad song, beyond Will Smith's rap and Scott’s singing we can hear a sound of the falling rain, but the end of it, like a rainbow appears the children’s choir. So the composition still cherishes hopes for something better. One more positive collaboration is Kindom Come featuring the king of gospel Kirk Franklin. But a disk also contains some boring tracks, such as Funky For You, One Time and 8 Minutes To Sunrise, many musical critics consider that Jill Scott completely wasted her time and vocal skills on them.

Jill Scott can blow away most current singers

There is no doubt that Scott has got the pipes that can and do blow away most current singers but taste and restraint are also important in building that voice into a real and enduring career. Her messages are clear, her voice strong and her production and unit tight as a new bongo head. Jill Scott always works at her full potential. She put as much energy and effort into songs with big-name artists like the Isley Bros., Al Jarreau, George Benson and Kirk Franklin as she did with lesser-knowns like Jeff Bradshaw, Eric Roberson and Chris Botti. Also impressive is how she's able to flow over practically any music style. She sounds equally comfortable on hip-hop tracks like Daydreamin, and Love Rain (with Lupe Fiasco and Mos Def, respectively) and jazz songs like Good Morning Heartache, as well as RandB/gospel cuts like Kingdom Come. Fans of the Philly diva should definitely be satisfied with such wide-ranging sensations evident on this release which also serves as the perfect introduction for the uninitiated and future fans.