Althea Rene In The Moment CD

This unparalleled artist, born December 25 in Detroit, Michigan, began her musical career at age four as a classical flautist. The rich talent of her father, Dezie McCullers, Sr. who performed with many Motown stars, helped to influence her. After years under the direction of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Clement Baron, she focused her attention to jazz and popular music. She studied classical music while attending Howard University in Washington D.C. and later she gained further musical inspiration from the accomplishments of Yusef Lateef and Donald Byrd. She has since developed her own creative style. In June of 1997, Ms. René began touring with the all-female, internationally acclaimed, jazz band "Straight Ahead". She has since left the group in pursuit of her solo career. With two solo projects to her credit, her third project IN THE MOMENT was released February 2006 and is burning up both the R&R Indicator chart and the Smoothjazz chart. The project ranked in the top 50 of both charts for more than 16 weeks. IN THE MOMENT is an assortment of urban contemporary tunes with an R&B twist. Althea Rene has worked more than 10 years as a Wayne County Deputy Sheriff (Detroit, Michigan). Today, Ms. René is a full-time performing artist and is regarded among musicians and enthusiasts as one of the nation’s most exciting solo improvisational flautists. Although IN THE MOMENT emphasizes Ms. Rene’s exceptional skill, soul, and artistic versatility; her live concerts better showcase her huge talent. She gives a fantastic show.

Personnel: Althea Rene (vocals, flute, alto flute, keyboards, percussion, programming, keyboard programming, drum programming, percussion programming, background vocals); Althea Rene; Kymberli Wright, Kloud 9, Pam English (vocals); Tom Hemby (guitar, acoustic guitar); DeSabata Robinson, Curtis Turrentine (guitar); Al Duncan (strings); Rayse Biggs (trumpet, flugelhorn); John Enrico Douglas (trumpet); Virgil Straford (piano, keyboards); Bamm Davis (Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, programming, drum programming); Kendall Duffie (keyboards, programming, drum programming); Carlos Gunn, Al Caldwell (keyboards); Marion Hayden (acoustic bass); Carl Holmes (bass guitar); Terry Baker, Ron Otis (drums); Marlon "Wild Bill" Curry (percussion); Richard Paris (keyboard programming, drum programming, background vocals); Perry Hughes (guitar).
Audio Mixers: Alan Litten; Carlos Gunn.
Recording information: Baby Al's Studio; Bamm Davis Studio; BlacStar Studio; FBT Studio; Gary Perez Studio; Island Girl Studio; Masterpiece Sound Studio; Soundstation Studios; The Vibe Room.
Soulful, smooth jazz-pop from flutist Althea Rene, In the Moment mostly consists of the kind of mid-tempo instrumental grooves that are the bread and butter of smooth jazz, but the few songs with vocals (by Kymberli Wright, occasionally supported by Rene) are in more of an easy listening R&B mode. Covers of Candy Dulfer's "I Can" and Beyoncé's "Me Myself and I" give an approximate idea of the album's stylistic parameters, but it's when In the Moment leans more toward the mellow instrumental groove that Rene truly finds her artistic voice. Pop songs are a long and respected element of the soul-jazz and smooth jazz traditions (Grover Washington, Jr. and Bill Withers' "Just the Two of Us" remains the pinnacle of the style), but Althea Rene simply doesn't do them particularly well, whereas groove-oriented tunes like "Campari Juice" are a breezy delight. ~ Stewart Mason

JazzTimes (p.151) - "[S]ensual, R&B grooves with a distinctly urban feel. Her latest shows a remarkable consistency of laid-back, quiet-storm intensity with memorable melodies and sprightly, compelling playing."