Jon Lucien - Endless Is Love (1997)

Endless Is Love represents a return to form for Jon Lucien after two hit-or-miss efforts by Mercury to turn him into an R&B singer. Lucien's milieu is more jazz-influenced, and he's right at home in musical settings with Chuck Loeb and John Lee, as well as with a few of his own producers. His deep baritone works best when singing romantic songs, of which there are plenty here, and the arrangements combine R&B, jazz and world music. The disc is dedicated to his daughter Dalila, who perished in the TWA Flight 800 crash in 1996. Lucien deserves to be rediscovered by the smooth jazz crowd. © Frank Federico