It has been nearly 8 years since the accident that caused me to discover the artistry of Rahsaan Patterson.

Back in the 90’s, as a singer and songwriter with a toe-hold in the business, I read trades and other music-based magazines. I had seen Rahsaan Patterson’s picture in passing, but did not buy his debut album when it was released in 1997. He was one of the artists being touted in the “Neo-Soul” category/publicity moniker. I recall the video to ”Where You Are”. I didn’t bite, for some reason. Life’s trajectory must be positioned correctly in order for one to truly dig certain experiences that may be encountered, I guess.

Two years later, I stumbled by chance across a song called “Any Other Love”. Caught the artists’ name. “I gotta check that out”, I thought to myself. About a week later, I hear the same artist, this time singing “Get Here”. Same album (by the way, thank you Music Choice!). That did it. Later that same day, I’m at the house of my friend, and I ask him if he knows who Rahsaan Patterson is. “Yeah, I got both his albums”. He GIVES me the debut, saying he’s run his course with it, but won’t part with hs new album, LOVE IN STEREO.

I literally went straight to Circuit City after leaving, and picked up LOVE IN STEREO. I should have listened to the debut first; I’m a slave to chronology. This story might have been quite different if I had. But I wanted to hear “Any Other Love”, so I popped LOVE IN STEREO first. And…that was it. It took me a cool 3 weeks to get to listen to the debut. I was stuck on “Sure Boy”, “Friend of Mine, “Humor”, “So Right” and so on. I was sold. I was suddenly telling everyone in earshot about Rahsaan Patterson, the Mad Genius of R&B.

Okay, that was a long setup, but there is a reason. When I was a kid, rarely a day went by that I didn’t hear something on the radio that got me excited. Spoke to me about the possibilities in music. I don’t hear it too much these days, sad to say. And his was one of those moments. And it feels good to say that, on his fourth release, that same artist has released perhaps his most rewarding collection to date. Mind you, this is not a straight-up review. Just a testament to the power of music that resonates on more than a surface level.

In the last 8 years, Rahsaan has released one album, 2004’s AFTER HOURS. This was a welcome addition to his canon, yielding many favorites of mine (”So Hot”, “Burnin’”, “April’s Kiss”, and especially “Sometimes (You Gotta Let Go”)). But with his new album, WINES & SPIRITS, it feels as if a thread between LOVE IN STEREO has been bridged, intertwined with both artistic growth, progression and the growth that life changes can’t help but bring. 

The album begins appropriately enough. “Cloud 9″ doesn’t begin- it fades in. The experience is already underway, it seems- jump on in. The atmosphere is comfortable and familiar, Rufus-esque. “There ain’t gonna be no downtime”, Rahsaan informs us. A great track, and a lyric that’s a harbinger for things to come.

“Delirium (Come and Goes)” seems to be getting alot of buzz from folk (it’s the only track besides first single “Stop Breaking My Heart” that’s been posted on youtube). As a hallmark of Rahsaan’s work, he wears his heart on his sleeve in the lyric. “Not trying to be cool, I’m hopeless and lonely for you”, he declares. It might be the frantic, remix-friendly production that’s adds the extra edge for people, but the overall tone of the track is a map of desperation, in its’ sweetest form.

“Feels Good” will appeal to those who have been hooked to a integral facet in Rahsaan’s work. In short, he can deliver a report on the greatest aspects of love or heartache, and package it in such an unaffected, ingratiating work, one in which you can’t help but crumble within its own delights.

“No Danger” finds Rahsaan in a less organic, more ethereal environment, one which will house much of the disc. The lyric and vocal are both reassuring in the promise that something beautiful will prevail. It’s a sentiment not shared with the next track. “Pitch Black” is a great song, not only because it challenges conventions within some man-made confines of what a ‘genre’ should entail, but because it harshly addresses an artists’ feeling, in a manner that is palatable and relatable. It deserves a repeated spin, on first listen.

On “Time”, featuring Johnny Onyx, he finds a balance. With Hip Hop as a catalyst, all feelings, sights and sounds are bared. As the hook suggests, all is ultimately uncovered, and Rahsaan’s emotive voice is the one to deliver the news.   

This brings us to the albums’ leadoff single, “Stop Breaking My Heart”. I’ll be honest in saying I didn’t immediately appreciate this song. At first listen, it doesn’t really deviate from what some may classify as a ‘classic Rahsaan Patterson cut’. But it deserves further consideration. The song plays much like the final declaration of a heart that has endured many struggles. At this point, every aspect of the track works in conjunction with past experience- there’s a finality in the hurt, up to Rahsaan’s own impassioned screams near songs’ end…

On “Water”, those same feelings are explored on a much more adventurous landscape. The same climate of contemplative desperation permeates. “Lifesaver please…is there anyone there to sense my need”, he wonders, while all around him, down to his own musings, suggest he’s on his own. For all its’ lyrical restlessness, the track floats on such a lushly thoughtful production that it never dares to bog us down.

The opposite is true with the next song, arguably the album’s best cut, “Deliver Me”.  A moment of dour lament is not permitted- the song launches into a infectious, uptempo groove, to which Rahsaan’s falsetto politely informs “gotta get away from you”. Those are the opening words, and he could be addressing any number of things. But by the time the soaring, unexpected hook comes in, it doesn’t matter. This is where the true artistry of Rahsaan Patterson comes into play. Regardless of the circumstance, that pained plea of the hook- the simple “deliver me, oh love”- cuts through to somewhere deeper than it may have seemingly intentioned. Let its impact sink in, then listen again. Listen to those ever-ascending keys during the lyric, “escape to love, make way for love, in space, my love…”  It’s a trip and a half forward.

Keeping this same agenda, the next track, “Oh Lord (Take Me Back)” might seem a basic excercise in returning to one’s spiritual roots, but the song has as much to do with the understanding those roots. Rahsaan has rarely sounded more spirited. Likewise, on “Higher Love” he confidently asserts a reason for renewal, under more contemporary surroundings. These 2 tracks could be used as examples of how an expression of praise, of joy, can be presented on the most disparate of platforms, despite the source of its’ own prompting.

The set closer, Janis Ian’s “Stars”, is appropriate in that its’ own musings- confused, unclarified, open-ended- mirror the sentiment of the whole album. “And all you see is glory”, he concludes. The lyric relates to the paradox of our stars, but there is, of course, a parallel to the balance in Rahsaan’s own observations.  

WINES & SPIRITS stands as witness that there is still an outlet for music to take adventure, to relate, yet influence. It is means of mutual release and ingestion. And this man, the “Mad Genius of R&B”, as I once called him, has once again allowed his soul to reflect the conscious need and awareness in all of us…

my only hope is that the rest of the world will wake up to the artistry of Rahsaan Patterson, already…