Finding My Way Back

I wasn’t sure about this song when I first heard it but I have to admit that it has indeed grown on me and is now one of my favorites. It’s put images in my mind of a different time when the landscape was dominated by real singers and there was a group of young men crafting their sound in any acoustic rich area they could find. A time where there was a talent show every week at some venue and these groups came to show their stuff and win the cash prize of the night and the heart of every girl in the audience. Where their suits were impeccable and their choreographed steps were super sharp and they sang their hearts out because they loved doing it and they were hoping that maybe someone in the audience was or maybe knew Berry Gordy.

Robert Townsend's movie "The Five Heartbeats" comes to mind where silky smooth tenors, amazing falsettos, and rich baritones would do battle and the crowd would pick the winner. Call me crazy but I still think that's the way it should always be done and this song conjures up that image for me. Jaheim and his song “Finding My Way Back” is definitely a throwback in my opinion and I could see him and some back up singers doing their thing to win a showcase.

I have been a fan of Jaheim since he first hit the scene years ago but that “thug crooner” image wore thin on me so I kind of left him to his own devices. It seems he’s matured in both sound and image and I may have to start paying closer attention. “Finding My Way Back” is off his latest CD entitled “Another Round” and from what I have heard of the CD it sounds like he’s found his niche and has grown comfortable being one of the best male singers out today.

With a voice that itself sounds like a throwback to the time of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Al Green, Smokey Robinson, and The Temptations Jaheim may have finally set himself apart from the R. Kelly’s, the Usher’s, and the Joe’s of the world. Let’s see if he can keep it up now.