Kirk Whalum could do a cover CD of a phone book and it would sound good.  Fortunately, there is better material out there for him to work his magic on.  On his 18th CD, and debut on the Rendezvous label, Whalum offers his interpretations of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds' love songs.  The Babyface Songbook is produced by Matt Pierson and features Dave Koz, Rick Braun, John Stoddart, Norman Brown, Chuck Loeb, and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.

“Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” a wonderful, soulful slow dance, opens the CD. You’ll be joining the “Shoop Shoop” chorus before it’s over.  “Can We Talk” reunites BWB – Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum and Norman Brown… all taking turns with the lead.

Truthfully, I really wasn’t looking forward to hearing another cover of “I’ll Make Love To You,” but it only took a few seconds to fall in love with Kirk’s powerful interpretation, and now it’s one of my favorite tracks.  Beautifully done.  Rick Braun joins Kirk again on “For The Cool In You” along with John Stoddart on Fender Rhodes.  Very cool and funky.  “Breathe Again” is another track I wasn’t looking forward to, but again, Whalum can make anything sound new and fresh.

With Kirk on soprano sax, this next track needs no words.  Gentle, heartfelt, and emotional, “When Can I See You Again” is absolutely breathtaking.  John Stoddart adds a very nice piano accompaniment to this one.  “Betcha Never” features Chuck Loeb on acoustic guitar.  Whalum totally captures the melody as he “sings” this one from the heart with his unmistakable tenor sax sound.

“Someone To Love”… This one is a real treat for me… an emotionally powerful sax duet with a very sweet “acapella” ending by two of my favorite sax players, Kirk Whalum and Dave Koz - Whalum on tenor and Koz on soprano.  This is a wonderful “dance” between the two instruments.  At times it will take your breath away.

“Not Gon’ Cry” is the title of the track, but Kirk certainly makes his tenor sax cry on this bluesy, R&B cover.  Whalum is joined again by Norman Brown for “Whip Appeal.” The contrast between Brown’s laid back guitar licks and Whalum’s soulful tenor sax lends a lot of interest to this one.  Babyface himself joins Kirk on “I Said I Love You” for background vocals, but Whalum’s sax does the real “singing” here.  This is another sweet, gentle, instrumental slow-dance. Closing the collection is “Wey U” with a cool bosa nova feel, featuring Gabriella Anders on vocals. 

As Whalum writes in the liner notes, “Melody is powerful.  Melody played for the heart is both powerful and spiritual.” The Babyface Songbook is indeed that.