Ron's World Music of Love And Hope: 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Will Downing

  Will Downing - Wishing On A Star

   Will Downing - I Try

   Will Downing - Test Of Time

Will Downing Returns to the Stage After Illness

The jazz-influenced singer, who is known for his sultry baritone, was placed on medical rest last month and forced to cancel his remaining tour dates. Fortunately, for his many fans, that restriction has been lifted, and Downing will return to touring in 2011 in support of his latest project “Lust, Love and Lies.”

In 2006, Downing was diagnosed with polymyositis, a muscle disorder that left him bedridden and without his voice at one point. Downing was able to recover both his mobility and his voice, even though it’s now much more challenging for him to record.

"I'm alive!” Downing says. “Taking it one day at a time, hoping to make up any missed dates in the near future and looking forward to seeing my fans.”

Will Downing - Something Special

Will Downing - A Million Ways

Will Downing (Wilfred Downing, November 29, 1963, Brooklyn, New York), 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 enrolled in Klein High School in Houston, Texas. The high school had one of the strongest performing arts programs in the city. Record company executives Clive Davis, who founded Arista Records, and Kedar Massenburg, who later became president of Motown Records. 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 worked on albums by Jennifer Holiday, Kool & the Gang, sax maestro Gerald Albright, Billy Ocean, Regina Belle, Mica Paris and others. 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. The critics singled out Downing's version of the John Coltrane classic jazz piece A Love Supreme as one of its highlights. It reached No. 4 on the Billboard Charts.Downing stayed with 4th & Broadway for just one album and switched to Island Records for his second release, Come Together As One, in 1989. Like his first album, Come Together As One was a pop- and dance-oriented collection of R&B songs that also reflected Downing's love of jazz.

Will is married to singer Audrey Wheeler, who has collaborated with various singers as a back-up singer.

In 2002 he received the International Association of African-American Music Diamond Award.

Will Downing - A Love Supreme