Born 2 B Blue

The veteran leader of the Steve Miller Band surprised everyone by making his first solo release a jazz vocal album. Digital elements enter the sound, yet there is no mechanical chill: its heartwarming softness is memorable. Ben Sidran, formerly a band member and by then successful in a jazz-oriented form of AOR, may have helped create the atmosphere as well as playing piano.

Alongside the gentle jazz numbers ‘God Bless the Child,’ known through Billie Holiday, and pieces associated with Horace Silver and Lionel Hampton, his love of R&B shows in Lee Dorsey's ‘Ya Ya’ and Ray Charles's ‘Mary Ann.’ Perhaps there is an aspect of stepping away from the pressure to produce band hits, but it is thoroughly enjoyable as grown-up play. Even with major jazz musicians such as Milt Jackson and Phil Woods present, Miller never shrinks from his own style. His ease is dazzling. One of the great hidden records of the 1980s.