''Love's the Place to Be'' is the fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

musician

Will Downing Wilfred "Will" Downing (born November 29, 1963) is an American singer and songwriter. He is married to singer Audrey Wheeler, who was a member of the R&B group Unlimited Touch. Biography Downing enrolled in Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, ...

, released by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

in 1993 in the United States. His first album for the label, it peaked at number 166 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. "There's No Living Without You" peaked at number 67 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Production

Among the album's many producers were

Barry Eastmond Barry James Eastmond is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and record producer. Eastmond is an adjunct professor at New York University Steinhardt Performing Arts Department in songwriting and is part of the NYU Summer Songwriting Work ...

and

Ronnie Foster Ronnie Foster (born May 12, 1950) is an American funk and soul jazz organist, and record producer. His albums recorded for Blue Note Records in the 1970s have gained a cult following after the emergence of acid jazz. Early life Foster was born ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

contributed harmonica to "That's All".

Rachelle Ferrell Rachelle Ferrell (born May 21, 1961) is an American vocalist and musician. Although she has had some success in the mainstream R&B, pop, gospel and classical music scenes, she is noted for her talents as a contemporary jazz singer. In contem ...

duets with Downing on "Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This".

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor Jason Birchmeier rated the album three out of five stars and wrote that "these songs were all some of Downing's best work ... showcasing his vocal prowess." ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' called the album "the kind of romantic, elegant material that fans of the highly touted Luther Vandross wish he would return to." ''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

'' deemed it "a masterpiece," writing that "the three-song suite 'Do You Still Love Me'/'Hey Girl'/'Break Up to Make Up' is one of the best things to hit CD in a long time." ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' thought that "Downing has matured into a stunning stylist, caressing such classics as Nat 'King' Cole's 'That's All' ndthe Stylistics' 'Break Up to Make Up' ... with a reverence that still leaves room for redefining." The ''

Daily Breeze The ''Daily Breeze'' is a 57,000-circulation daily newspaper published in Hermosa Beach, California Hermosa Beach (''Hermosa'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of Calif ...

'' wrote that "most of the 11 tracks spin at the same speed and intensity, thus there is no chance for the highs and lows."

Track listing

Selected personnel

– vocals *

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

– saxophone *

– vocals *Anthony Jackson – bass *Harvey Mason – drums *Marion Meadows – saxophone *Buddy Wilson – drums *

– harmonica

Charts

References

{{reflist 1993 albums Mercury Records albums Will Downing albums