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Kim Waters: In the Name of Love

Item: In the Name of Love
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Author: Brian Soergel

By Brian Soergel
May 15, 2004
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Coming off two No. 1 hits, saxophonist Kim Waters is now undoubtedly one of the top names in smooth jazz. His newest CD should do nothing to bring him down. Fans of his megahit “The Ride” will be pleased to find a remixed version of it here, which closes the project. Waters is all about hits, whether writing his own or for others such as Pamela Williams, so it’s no surprise that the first single is “In Deep,” a driving number with Waters soprano marching along to the up-tempo rhythm. Even better is “Sunset,” which may be the catchiest single he’s ever written. Listen, and don’t even try to get the melody out of your head for a while. A big plus is that Waters, who tends to leave his real playing to his Streetwize side projects, gives himself a chance to get some playing in when not hammering on the melody.

Waters chooses two tasty covers: R. Kelly’s “Step in the Name of Love,” with Charles Smith handling the “step, step, slide, slide” refrain; and Barry White’s seminal “Love’s Theme,” which Waters introduces with “And right now, we’re gonna go way back.” The sax man can slow things down, of course, and his bedroom-pleasers “All I Wanna Do (Is Please You),” “Tell Me So” and the Kenny G-like “Alone With You” are among his best at that. Co-produced by Dave Darlington, who also remixes “The Ride,” In the Name of Love shows Waters at the top of his commercial powers.

Instrumental pop never sounded so unabashedly programmed—and so good.

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In addition to All About Jazz, Brian contributes to JazzTimes, smoothvibes.com, Smooth Jazz News, and SmartJock.com.

Track Listing

Step in the Name of Love; Sunset; In Deep; Tell Me So; Love's Theme; All I Wanna Do (Is Please You); For the Groove in You; Cross My Heart; Alone With You; The Ride (Special Davy D Remix)

Personnel

Kim Waters

saxophone

Kim Waters (saxophone); James Waters Jr. (bass); Wayne Bruce (guitar); Dave Darlington (keyboards, drum programming); Chuck Loeb (guitar, keyboards, drum and percussion programming); Charles Smith (background vocals)

Album information

Title: In the Name of Love | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Shanachie Records

About Kim Waters

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