Jam & Lewis

★★★★ Volume 1 FLYTE TYME/BMG. CD/DL

Classic-sounding debut from the legendary songwriting/ production duo.

Recorded piecemeal over three years at Flyte Tyme, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’s studio in Agoura Hills, Los Angeles, Volume 1 is a starstudded affair featuring Mariah Carey, Tony Braxton, Babyface, Usher and others. The pair, who perhaps more than any other production/ songwriting team masterminded the sound of modern R&B, here set out to create what they call “newsalgia”, something new that also takes you back to a golden age. They released their fabled 808 to help – it usually resides in a Plexiglas case in the studio – and achieved what they wanted: Mariah Carey scaling dramatic peaks on Somewhat Loved (There You Go Breakin’ My Heart); Babyface recrowned the king of quiet storm on He Don’t Know Nothin’ Bout It, and Usher, the love doctor, all breathy and hot on Do It Yourself.