It's always good to see and hear artists who are in the music business for a long time and have reached a state of maturity that most of the young clones presented by the more youth orientated music industry can only dream of. Take Greg Walker for example, he's recording songs for many years now. You may know him for his work with Santana, Herbie Hancock, Kenny G., Jeff Lorber, Rodney Franklin, or Keiko Matsui or you may have his Love You So Good album from 1991 on Taylor Made Music in your record collection just like me.
Listening to Greg's new album Never Better evokes memories of recent Jon Lucien reords. There's also a rich, pleasant soulful voice and the music is more laid-back and relaxed with some Latin/Caribbean influences. And Greg also writes, produces and arranges his own music with the help of co-musicians like Bill Pittman, Joyce Clark or Rick Feuer Jr.
One of the highlights is the ballad Anything that just oozes class and is a fine example of how a great soul song can sound like.
Equally well done is Every Day Of My Life, an excellent ballad.
Another highlight comes with So Much Better, a midtempo song that makes the sun shine on a cloudy day with it's guitar, percussion and Greg's singing.
With other appealing songs like Nothing You Can Do, Old Fashioned Love or Greg's tribute to his mother Dear Mother, My Friend this album is just made for those cosy little tête-à-têtes...so turn up the heating this winter, invite a person you really like and listen to Greg Walker.