Syreeta, One To One, 1977

Tamla/Motown LP, 1977

1 one to one
2 i don't know feat gary bartz
3 rest yourself
4 i too am wanting
5 tiki tiki donga
6 don't cry feast gary bartz
7 harmour love
8 one to one (reprise)

syreeta wright, leon ware, curtis robertson, chuck rainey, james gadson, howard king, eddie "bongo" brown, mayuto (correa), sonny burke, gregory phillinganes, david t. walker, ray parker, michael sembello, jim gilstrap, others. sax solos by gary bartz.
produced by leon ware. harmour love produced by stevie wonder.

i hate writing these things when the artist is already gone. syreeta wright was stevie wonder's one-time companion, backup singer, and protegee. while she never achieved superstardom, she left us with a handful of unique heartfelt albums. i'm posting this one to help complete blogger simon666's epic presentation of one of leon ware's awesome albums.

syreeta and leon ware were a good musical match. both had sophisticated taste in making r&b that tapped all sorts of influences but didn't linger too much over one genre, touching symphonic soul, jazz, light funk, disco and romantic balladry. both seemed especially drawn to concept albums: suites of songs flowing into each other connected by a romantic soulful mood more than a string of pop hits stacked next together fighting for space in the grooves. i won't attempt to duplicate simon's excellent exposition on producer leon ware, but he brings a stamp of sophistication to the record you'll recognize from his works like the legendary musical massage.

this is syreeta's third album. while it's not as utterly surprising and fresh as, say, stevie wonder presents syreeta, it's full of great tracks, all showcasing syreeta's unique voice, almost heartbreaking now in its absence.

light a candle for syreeta, and love this record!

link in comments