It's doubtful that R&B will ever have another era as creatively rich as the '60s or '70s. There's too much working against it -- at least in the United States. Between the rigid, extremely tight formats of urban radio and the fact that major labels are so quick to drop artists before they have a chance to develop, modern R&B is bound to have an abundance of artists who go out of their way to be as generic as possible. That said, the situation is far from hopeless -- if it were, major talents like
Alicia Keys,
India.Arie,
Jill Scott,
Erykah Badu, and
Rahsaan Patterson wouldn't have broken through. Like those singers,
Calvin Richardson has a neo-soul perspective that owes something to classic soul as well as urban contemporary and hip-hop.
2:35 PM,
Richardson's second solo album, isn't in a class with
Patterson or
D'Angelo's best releases; actually, it's mildly uneven and inconsistent. However, the CD's best tracks demonstrate that
Richardson is capable of excellence when he puts his mind to it. The romantic slow jams on
2:35 PM fall into two main categories: radio-oriented tunes that have a strong
Jodeci/
K-Ci & JoJo influence (with some
R. Kelly-ish moves here and there), and material that is more old-school in its approach. The album gets off to an impressive start with "Keep on Pushin'," which recalls classic soulsters like
Sam Cooke and
Bobby Womack -- and
Richardson is equally convincing on "Falling Out," "I Wansumo," and "More Than a Woman" (not to be confused with the
Bee Gees/
Tavares hit of the late '70s). Unfortunately,
2:35 PM also has its share of material that is competent without being terribly memorable, but when
Richardson does hit the mark, it is obvious that the R&B world should continue to keep an eye on the North Carolina native. ~ Alex Henderson