Will Downing
Encyclopedia
Will Downing is an American
singer-songwriter
and producer
. Downing is known in the contemporary jazz and R&B music genres for his rich baritone vocals, and his interpretations of R&B and pop classics that stretch back to the early 1980s. Downing is married to singer Audrey Wheeler, who has collaborated with various musicians as a back-up singer
.
in Brooklyn, New York. Fellow scholars included the eventual record label
executives Clive Davis
, who founded Arista Records
, and Kedar Massenburg, who later became president of Motown. Downing, who eventually recorded for Motown, graduated with Massenburg in the class of 1981. Downing then attended college at Virginia Union University
in Richmond, Virginia
. In the mid-1980s he moved back to New York City, and worked on album
s by Jennifer Holiday, Kool & the Gang
, Gerald Albright
, Billy Ocean
, Regina Belle
and Mica Paris
. Later he sang with Arthur Baker
's group, Wally 'Jump' Junior. Downing then used Baker as a producer after he signed with Island Records
.
In 1988, Downing signed a recording contract
with 4th & Broadway Records, and his first solo album, Will Downing, was released that same year. His version of the John Coltrane
piece, "A Love Supreme
", reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
. Downing stayed with 4th & Broadway for just one album and switched to Island Records for his second release, Come Together As One (1989).
Switching labels to Mercury
for his fourth outing, 1993's Love's the Place to Be, Downing scored his best-selling album to date with about 235,000 copies sold in the United States and over 300,000 copies in the UK
. He remained with Mercury for two more albums, Moods in 1995 and Invitation Only in 1997, both of which sold well. All the Man You Need received a Grammy Award
nomination for Best Traditional R&B Album in 2000.
In 2002, Downing received the International Association of African-American Music Diamond Award.
Since December 2006, Downing has suffered from polymyositis
, that has left him unable to walk and confined to a wheel chair. Despite the debilitating aspects of the disease, he worked towards releasing a new album in 2010. Love, Lust, & Lies: An Audio Novel
was released in September that year.
Beyond performing, Downing is a spokesperson for the American Stroke Association. On tour, Downing conducts the charity bowling event, Strike Against Stroke, to raise funds towards awareness and education in the African American community, which is disproportionately affected. The American Heart Association
recognized Downing for his efforts, honoring him as a Celebrity Ambassador. He is also a keen photographer, and self-published the 2005 coffee table book Unveiled Series I.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. Downing is known in the contemporary jazz and R&B music genres for his rich baritone vocals, and his interpretations of R&B and pop classics that stretch back to the early 1980s. Downing is married to singer Audrey Wheeler, who has collaborated with various musicians as a back-up singer
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
.
Biography
Downing enrolled in Erasmus Hall High SchoolErasmus Hall High School
Erasmus Hall Campus High School is a four-year public high school in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States operated by the New York City Department of Education....
in Brooklyn, New York. Fellow scholars included the eventual record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
executives Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
, who founded Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, and Kedar Massenburg, who later became president of Motown. Downing, who eventually recorded for Motown, graduated with Massenburg in the class of 1981. Downing then attended college at Virginia Union University
Virginia Union University
Virginia Union University is a historically black university located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It took its present name in 1899 upon the merger of two older schools, Richmond Theological Institute and Wayland Seminary, each founded after the end of American Civil War by the American...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. In the mid-1980s he moved back to New York City, and worked on album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s by Jennifer Holiday, Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...
, Gerald Albright
Gerald Albright
Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist.Albright has sold over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S. alone. His self-produced music features him on bass guitar, keyboards, flutes, drum programming, and background vocals.- Biography :...
, Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean is a Trinidad-born English Grammy Award winning popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British-based R&B singer / songwriter of the early to mid-1980s...
, Regina Belle
Regina Belle
Regina Belle is a singer-songwriter who first surfaced in the late 1980s. She is notable for her Grammy award winning duet with Peabo Bryson, "A Whole New World".-Biography:Regina Belle was born in Englewood, New Jersey...
and Mica Paris
Mica Paris
Mica Paris is an English soul singer, radio and television presenter, and occasional actress. Her forename is pronounced Misha.-Beginnings:Paris' roots are in soul and gospel music...
. Later he sang with Arthur Baker
Arthur Baker (musician)
Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...
's group, Wally 'Jump' Junior. Downing then used Baker as a producer after he signed with Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
.
In 1988, Downing signed a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with 4th & Broadway Records, and his first solo album, Will Downing, was released that same year. His version of the John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
piece, "A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme is a studio album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet in December 1964 and released by Impulse! Records in February 1965...
", reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Downing stayed with 4th & Broadway for just one album and switched to Island Records for his second release, Come Together As One (1989).
Switching labels to Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
for his fourth outing, 1993's Love's the Place to Be, Downing scored his best-selling album to date with about 235,000 copies sold in the United States and over 300,000 copies in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He remained with Mercury for two more albums, Moods in 1995 and Invitation Only in 1997, both of which sold well. All the Man You Need received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best Traditional R&B Album in 2000.
In 2002, Downing received the International Association of African-American Music Diamond Award.
Since December 2006, Downing has suffered from polymyositis
Polymyositis
Polymyositis is a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis.-Signs and symptoms:...
, that has left him unable to walk and confined to a wheel chair. Despite the debilitating aspects of the disease, he worked towards releasing a new album in 2010. Love, Lust, & Lies: An Audio Novel
Love, Lust, & Lies: An Audio Novel
Love, Lust & Lies: An Audio Novel is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Will Downing, released by Concord Music Group on September 14, 2010.-Singles:...
was released in September that year.
Beyond performing, Downing is a spokesperson for the American Stroke Association. On tour, Downing conducts the charity bowling event, Strike Against Stroke, to raise funds towards awareness and education in the African American community, which is disproportionately affected. The American Heart Association
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas...
recognized Downing for his efforts, honoring him as a Celebrity Ambassador. He is also a keen photographer, and self-published the 2005 coffee table book Unveiled Series I.
Selective discography
| Year | Title | Genre | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Yesterday | R&B | Will Downing |
| 2010 | Love, Lust, & Lies: An Audio Novel Love, Lust, & Lies: An Audio Novel Love, Lust & Lies: An Audio Novel is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Will Downing, released by Concord Music Group on September 14, 2010.-Singles:... |
R&B, Jazz | Concord |
| 2009 | Classique | R&B, Jazz | Concord |
| 2007 | After Tonight | R&B | Peak |
| 2006 | The Best Of Will Downing: The Millennium Collection | Jazz | Hip-O/Universal |
| 2005 | Soul Symphony | R&B | GRP/Verve/Universal |
| 2004 | Christmas, Love and You | R&B | GRP/Verve/Universal |
| 2003 | Emotions | R&B | GRP/Verve/Universal |
| 2003 | Collection [Import] | R&B, Jazz | Universal |
| 2003 | A Million Ways (Remix) | R&B | GRP/Verve/Universal |
| 2002 | Sensual Journey | R&B, Jazz, Neo Soul | GRP/Verve/Universal |
| 2002 | Greatest Love Songs | R&B | Island/Hip-O/Universal |
| 2000 | All the Man You Need | R&B | Motown/Universal |
| 1998 | Pleasures of the Night with Gerald Albright Gerald Albright Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist.Albright has sold over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S. alone. His self-produced music features him on bass guitar, keyboards, flutes, drum programming, and background vocals.- Biography :... |
R&B, Jazz | Verve Forecast/PolyGram |
| 1997 | Invitation Only | R&B, Jazz | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 1995 | Moods | R&B | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 1994 | Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This with Rachelle Ferrell Rachelle Ferrell Rachelle Ferrell is an American singer and musician. Although she has had some success in the mainstream R&B, pop, gospel, and classical music scene, she is most noted for her talents as a contemporary jazz singer.-Biography:... |
R&B, Pop | Capitol/EMI |
| 1993 | Love's the Place to Be | R&B | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 1991 | A Dream Fulfilled | R&B | Island/PolyGram |
| 1989 | Come Together as One | R&B | Island/PolyGram |
| 1988 | Will Downing | R&B | Island/PolyGram |