CD Review: 'A Moment in Time' by Beres Hammond
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BERES HAMMOND
"A Moment in Time"
Kindred spirits: Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Marvin Gaye, Seal
Show: Sunday at Wolf Trap with other reggae performers. Show starts at 4 p.m. 703-255-1900. http:/
In 1995, Beres Hammond recorded a copy of Luther Vandross's "A House Is Not a Home," set to a Jamaican dancehall beat. It was a revealing moment, for the Jamaican native had long been the island's equivalent of Vandross, a romantic crooner with impeccable style. On his new album, "A Moment in Time," the 53-year-old Hammond echoes Vandross's late-career records: surrounding a few superb singles with disappointingly bland adult-contemporary material.
The album's first track, "I Feel Good," is as good as anything on Hammond's terrific 2003 greatest-hits collection, "Can't Stop a Man." His description of a night of dancing with his lover is backed by a laid-back but contagious horn riff, while his voice glides with pleasure and rasps with excitement.
"Give It All You've Got" boasts a knotty beat, "I Surrender" is a strong gospel-soul ballad and "A Place for You" is a hook-laden dance number. The other dozen tracks, though, are fairly forgettable.
The CD comes with a DVD with the "I Feel Good" video, an interview with Hammond in a studio and a concert from his 2007 appearance at the Reggae Sumfest in Jamaica. The filmmaking is perfunctory, but Hammond is backed by six musicians and three singers as he knocks out 21 of his biggest hits with impressive charisma.
-- Geoffrey Himes
