?UESTLOVE
PRESENTS BABIES MAKIN’ BABIES
(BBE/Fusion III) Rating: NNN Rating: NNN
Doing his bit to help keep the population up, Roots drummer ?uestlove has pieced together this mixed tape of gooey slow jams engineered for maximum romance. To his credit, ?uest makes no nods to hipness or sophistication, including tunes by Deniece Williams and, er, Gino Vannelli alongside classic jams by Minnie Riperton, Stanley Cowell, Bill Withers and the Isley Brothers. That there’s nothing here from later than 1979 says as much about his opinion of contemporary R&B as it does about his taste in old-school soul, but ?uest’s admirable skill as a selector aside, your enjoyment of Babies Makin’ Babies is likely to be a mood thing. The later in the night the better. ?uestlove spins at the Opera House August 10.