The Ultimate Gift [PA] (CD - 2008)

Personnel: Rahsaan Patterson (vocals, background vocals); Jarius Mozee (guitar, guitars); Bakshi, Amritha Fernandez (violin); Derrick Edmondson (saxophone); Will Miller (trumpet); Joe Tepperman (trombone); Keith Crouch (keyboards, drums, programming, background vocals); Cornelius Mims (bass instrument); Derrick D Loc Walker (drums); Rasha Patterson-Quinones (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Erik Reichers; Jamey Jaz.

Recording information: OPOPP, Hollywood, CA; Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA.

Arrangers: Bakshi; Amritha Fernandez; Keith Crouch; Rahsaan Patterson.

Rahsaan Patterson is a gifted R&B artist whose smooth, flexible baritone recalls the voices of early `70s masters like Donny Hathaway and Leroy Hutson, and whose songwriting skills and uncompromising devotion to classic soul mark him as heir to the neo-soul aesthetic of D'Angelo and Erykah Baduh. His densely orchestrated, sonically adventurous work on 2005's AFTER HOURS and 2007's WINE & SPIRITS marked a triumphant return to form after several years' absence from the music industry..

THE ULTIMATE GIFT (2008) is, somewhat surprisingly, a holiday-themed album, yet Patterson does not use this as an excuse to indulge in rote covers or lazy arrangements. Instead THE ULTIMATE GIFT features eight original tunes and three well-chosen covers, all couched in sharp, progressive production that simultaneously evokes Prince's wide-ranging eclecticism and Leon Haywood's slow-grooving melancholy. minimize