JLE

Each year a new singer from Motown's song garden makes the foliage turn another unique color. This year Jennifer Edison bloomed her first album called That's Me for the independent imprint Song of Songs. From the first minutes of "Tommorrow's Joy" Jennifer Edison's trail of pensive left brain doodling flows into an independent pop day lorded over by Brian McKnight, Brandy and Des'ree. Her notes blow like the leaves of a willow grounded in bronze pop earth. Edison's voice courts the elements of R & B, hip-hop and rock melody to come up with a debut album that you can tell aspires to reach the massive ear reach of Michael Jackson land.

Jennifer Edison writes from a background that started her singing at seven years old in church like most R & B musicians. Her dad had a group called True Inspirations that logged in several gigs locally. The Edison clan of 11 sang gospel music for mostly community events and television. After the group disbanded she started writing songs with her brother Charles. "We realized that we had a special chemistry and decided to become a production team." Father Raymond Edison, brother Charles Edison and Jennifer became the True Inspiration Productions. That's Me is their first project and Edison is at the helm. Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Brandy and others line her memory with admiration and you can hear her poring through them in blushy tracks that bare the smoother side of urban music.

The Edison's do not produce in the common slick hard digital methods of people like Rodney Jerkins or organic programs of R.Kelly's human voice hitting it over tracks that sound like pure studio. That's Me plays itself out in a semi- acoustic aesthetic that only gets polished up when she's pulling hip-hop beats in "Not This Time" a la Ashanti. "Crying Out" solos a rock guitar that emanates stadium space by the airy production. The youthfulness of groups like B2K and an earlier Destiny's Child are here too but Edison isn't boasting stuff for teens bounce to. Freshness is always a promoter of curiosity and linked to people under 25 however,the lyrics she sings are about a conscious party of self awareness:

When the rain starts falling and the wind starts blowing And it keeps on going and keeps on growing And the sun stops shining And the water's steady rising Coming higher and higher You gotta take some time to analyze your life -"Analyze Your Life"

Words like flowers in pretty realist paintings give up an idea usually reserved for older audiences in typical marketing schemes. And when most urban music is thought of for its ability to provoke an inner search, it is usually connected to the strength to outgrow the bad battles of the street. The great niece of late Supremes founder and singer Florence Ballard lays her music out with a balance that levels any rough play and maintains scrutiny of the self. Heightening emotion of the type heard in "Beauty's" soft gaze summarizes Edison's overall approach; refined R & B with pop projections that stretches into rock. Right now she is preparing for a summer tour that includes playing at the New York Film and Music Festival. Moods will be set right for those who make it to her show because That's Me kept the weeds out of its greenhouse of sound grown with Edison family seeds.

You can check out Jennifer Edison at www.jlemusic.com
- Tamara Harris