Milton Suggs

Pure Intention

Imani

Vocalist Milton Suggs’ Pure Intention, is a courageous undertaking, simply pairing himself with pianist Michael King, a fellow Chicagoan and longtime collaborator. This is the 40-year-old singer-songwriter’s first album since 2016 although he’s done vocal spots on a few records in the interim, notably for JLCO, Ulysses Owens Jr., Marquis Hill, Orrin Evans, and Wycliffe Gordon. This naked format allows Suggs the freedom and flexibility he was seeking and Imani Records, owned by Orrin Evans, is a more than obliging sponsor. Evans compares Suggs to Andy Bey, with whom he once played with. Rooted in blues, soul and jazz Suggs takes his inspiration from the great Chicago vocalists such as Joe Williams, Donny Hathaway, and, of course, Nat King Cole. His rich baritone has both range and power, and he has the kind of dynamic command that enables him to go from a shout to a whisper event within the same verse. Suggs is also a composer and arranger, and he developed lyrics for melodies crafted by jazz greats Benny Golson, Horace Silver, Buster Williams, Cedar Walton, Larry Willis, Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd, Mulgrew Miller, and Kenny Garrett. At the same time, he ventures into the worlds of soul and R&B with creative reading of the O’Jays “Cry Together” (Gambel & Huff) and Frankie Beverly’s “Golden Time of Day.”

Courageous as it may be, Suggs is eminently comfortable in this format, as his first album was a duo recording with Chicago pianist Willie Pickens, his godfather. The album, Just Like Me featured the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with Suggs nodding to various Ellington singers along the way. Also, consider that Suggs cut his teeth in Windy City jam sessions in the early ‘00s following a similar path as Kurt Elling who did the same in the early ‘90s at venerable institutions such as the Green Mill Tavern.

Light piano chords open the Kenny Garrett ballad “Sing A Song of Song (There Is a Song),” an optimistic song, yet a difficult one from a phrasing standpoint, delivered will precise diction and growing intensity, infused with King’s delicate pianism.  Suggs’ range is the highlight of Horace Silver’s “Sunrise in Malibu (A Pleasant Surprise),” the vocalist leaping from lower to higher registers with ease. King stretches out with shimmering piano in the break.  Later the duo renders Silver’s “Pretty Eyes (Beautiful Eyes)” a balance of grit and grace, the latter attributed mostly to gleaming piano. The album takes its title from Buster Williams’ “Nzingah,” presumably a Buddhist term translated to ‘pure intention.’ The tune is a gorgeous, delicate ballad, and to some extent Suggs vocal evokes Billy Eckstine (another baritone) and surely the purity of Nat King Cole. Again, the high register notes are stunning.

Moving away from jazz, the spoken word intro to “Cry Together” does little for this listener but Suggs quickly atones for that with a powerhouse vocal, a masterclass in dynamics, and glass shattering potency on the chorus. It’s a clear standout. The other soulful number is the closer, Beverley’s “Golden Time of Day,” sung with dripping emotion and a few soaring lines, but mostly in a rather charming, enchanting manner easing the album to a serene close.

Suggs and King navigate the syncopation of Donald Byrd’s “Change Your Mind” and swing with a swagger through Cedar Walton’s “Firm Roots (What We Really Need),’ flirting with scat and vocalese but never quite getting there. (he doesn’t need to).  The duo delivers one of the most sublimely tender takes on the standard, oft covered “Old Folks” that this listener has ever heard. Their keening balladry continues through Golson’s classic “Along Came Betty (The Day She Along)” and deftly navigate Lee Morgan’s “Helen’s Ritual (Toxic), yes, with scatting and vocalese in this exciting take. Suggs takes the Nat King Cole route again in Mulgrew Miller’s “Holding Hands (Holding Your Hand),” a velvety vocal punctuated with higher octave lines, and an emphatic close. Larry Willis’ “To Wisdom The Prize (Wisdom)” is another challenging vocal tune, rife with start-stop rhythms, that King and Suggs weave through effortlessly.

This stands easily as one of the top vocal albums of the year. As Orrin Evans says, “…you close your eyes, and all this beautiful stuff comes out.”  Pure Intention should also have enduring power. It belongs in the same conversation as Johnny Hartman’s best recordings. Come to think of it, Hartman was raised in Chicago too.

• Jim Hynes

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