Will Downing
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Will Downing (b. 1963, Brooklyn, New York), is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Downing's recording career has won a loyal audience of contemporary jazz and R&B fans with albums and concerts that have showcased his rich baritone vocals and unique interpretations of R&B and pop classics that stretches back to the early 1980s.
Biography
Downing enrolled in the famed performing arts high school Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York. The high school had one of the strongest performing arts programs in the city and included among its alumni singers Barbra Streisand and Stephanie Mills, and 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-1980's 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 went onto singing 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.
Switching labels to Mercury Records 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 Great Britain. He remained with Mercury for two more albums, Moods in 1995 and Invitation Only in 1997, both of which sold well to Downing's core fan base. The CD All the Man You Need received a Grammy Awards nomination for Best Traditional R&B Album in 2000.
In 2002 he received the International Association of African-American Music Diamond Award.
Since December 2006 Will has been suffering with a muscle disorder called polymyositis that has left him unable to walk and confined to a wheel chair.
On April 22nd, Will Downing - “the prince of sophisticated soul” - began a series of one-on-one speaking engagements / listening parties in various markets throughout the U.S. The events marked his first public appearances since being diagnosed with Polymyositis at the end of 2006. Downing sat down for intimate conversations in which he discussed his current illness, his faith and family’s support, his musical career (including his new CD, After Tonight), and his exciting upcoming touring plans. A meet and greet closed out each evening.
In conjunction with Peak Records, local chapters of prominent African American organizations were invited to co-promote these fundraising events. Proceeds benefitted the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Corporate sponsors / partners for the speaking engagements / listening events include: Ambassador Magazine, EUR Web.com, Heart & Soul Magazine, Soul Music.com, Soul Tracks.com, The Urban Music Scene.com and WHUR.
Downing has been making milestone strides on personal and musical fronts. Thanks to hard work, faith and family, Will has made miraculous progress in his battle with the muscle disease Polymyositis. Where at one point he was not able to lift his head, let alone leave his bed without assistance, Will is now able to get up and walk on his own with the aid of a walker - a major development!
Will's latest album After Tonight - his first for Peak Records and thirteenth overall - is his fastest selling to date since its October 2007 release, and will continue to do so with the release to Urban AC radio of its second single, "Fantasy (Spending Time With You)" - a Corvette cool love man's groove produced by Rex Rideout and featuring the soulful guitar of Randy Bowland. In addition, Will just recorded a performance to be featured on saxophonist Gerald Albright's June 24-slated salute to Stax Records project, Sax for Stax, singing a version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" inspired by the classic 1971 rendition from Isaac Hayes' seminal double-album, Black Moses. Plus Will is optimistically pushing himself to be ready for a concert tour by fall of 2008!
Chalk it all up to the sheer "Force of Will" of a man who refuses to let adversity keep him from living the life he intends to live. "My doctors gave me a very accurate diagnosis," Downing shares in regards to Polymyositis. "They said that for a year I was going to 'catch hell,' but after that I’d be able to do things that I wasn't able to do before. And sure enough, within a month after the first year, I was able to get up. And every week after that, I could do something else I wasn't able to do."
“For a minute, I thought my new title was going to have to be The 'Ironside' of Soul,” Will concludes in characteristic good humor, referring to the wheelchair-bound TV detective of old. “But through the grace of God, my wife, daughter, family and friends, every day I get closer to the Will I really am. It's been an enlightening experience..."
Will makes his debut back to the stage on July 26, 2008 and the LA Jazz and Musical Festival.
