The “Prince of Sophisticated Soul” Will Downing is back with his smooth sound in a new single titled “Everything I Miss At Home,” the leading track from his first full-length project in six years, Black Pearls.
The song is a cover of Cherrelle’s 1988 Cherrelle hit, and an homage to chart-topping gems originally performed by some of the greatest female voices to grace R&B. On the album, Downing rekindles the soul and ignites a fire in songs made famous by Chaka Khan, Deniece Williams, Randy Crawford, Cherrelle, Jean Carne and Phyllis Hyman, among others.
Downing originally met Cherrelle in the 90s during a USO tour. Downing jokes, “My sister calls ‘Everything I Miss At Home’ the ‘you better do right song.'”
About Black Pearls, Downing explains, “Phyllis Hyman started this whole project. T was having a conversation with a friend who also worked with Phyllis. We both agreed that ‘Meet Me On The Moon’ was our favorite Phyllis tune. My friend suggested I remake it. I called my keyboardist/arranger Mike Logan to help with the song. After completing it, I thought maybe this is a great opportunity to pay tribute to other female artists that I have always loved.That’s how Black Pearls was born!”
Black Pearls will arrive on July 8th.
