Here I Am

Ronald Isley had a 2003 that most artists would envy. The Isley Brothers’ Body Kiss went to No. 1 in its first week in the Billboard charts in the spring. Still riding that triumph, the veteran singer teamed with master writer-arranger Burt Bacharach for this set of sumptuous ballads. Such event records – often made to cash in at holiday time or to lift a sagging artist profile – aren’t always musically successful, but Here I Am is undeniable. Recording live vocals with a full orchestra in the manner of Bacharach’s ’60s sessions with Dionne Warwick and others, Isley brings a quietude to this selection of Bacharach-Hal David classics and a couple of new collaborations between the composer and Tonio K. "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" gets the most radical reinterpretation; no longer jaunty, it’s transformed into something bluer but ultimately full of hope. Here I Am, one of the more surprising albums of the year, is a true keeper. --Rickey Wright