Warren Hill - Shelter (1997)

Saxophonist Warren Hill's Shelter contains a few unexpected detours from his commercially successful, middle-of-the-road material. Some of these surprises bolster his stock-soulful, bubbly arrangements on "Subway Slam," with its bustling horn chorale, and "Wanna Believe" give Hill room to demonstrate some hard-cornered, Sanborn-esque chops. Tricky timing on these funkier pieces, including the heady-paced "Marathon Man" demonstrate his ability to effectively layer jazz technique with rock & soul elements. The other major new twist here is Hill's vocalising-a wispy tenor which does very little to augment sappier songs like "Shelter from the Storm" (not the Bob Dylan tune, but a Hill original). Hill does write catchy melodies, but it would take a vocalist with a little more Richard Marx-ish personality to pull off the dramatic power-pop ballad feel he's clearly going for. As on past Hill efforts, there are gooily romantic synthesizer ballads to spare-but Shelter does occasionally show the more adventurous side of this saxophone idol.

Tracklist:

01. Shelter From The Storm
02. Roxanne
03. You Are The One
04. If Your Man Doesn't Treat You Right
05. Subway Slam
06. Wanna Believe
07. From The Soul
08. You're My Only Love
09. Hey Jude
10. Marathon Man
11. If Your Man Doesn't Treat You Right (Instrumental)
12. Shelter From The Storm (Instrumental)