The Ultimate Luther Vandross - Luther Vandross

Personnel: Luther Vandross (background vocals); Jimmy Jam (keyboards); Bryan-Michael Cox (programming); Jason Rome (drum programming).
Audio Mixers: Manny Marroquin; Michael Brauer; Peter Mokran; Ray Bardani.
Liner Note Author: David Ritz.
Recording information: Chalice Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Flyte Tyme Studios, Santa Monica, CA; Marvin's Room, Lost Angeles, CA; The Black Room, Atlanta, GA; the Record Plant, Hollywood, CA.
Arrangers: James Porte; Skip Anderson; Luther Vandross; Marcus Miller; Nat Adderley, Jr.; Reed Vertelney; Shep Crawford; Walter Afanasieff.
Luther Vandross had so many hits throughout the 1980s and '90s, and--more importantly--was such an influential R&B stylist, that any attempt to sum him up on a single-disc compilation is somewhat futile. Still, 2006's ULTIMATE LUTHER VANDROSS, which modified the track list of the 2001 collection of the same name, does an admirable job of capturing the artist's achievement.
Naturally, the set includes the singer's biggest hits, including "Here and Now," "The Power of Love/Love Power," and "Don't Want to Be a Fool," among many others, but this version of ULTIMATE has the jump on the earlier version with its inclusion of songs from Vandross's highly successful 2003 release DANCE WITH MY FATHER, including the dramatically moving title track and his duet with Beyonce on "The Closer I Get to You." A duet with Mariah Carey and two previously unreleased tracks ("Shine" and "Got You Home") round out the package.

• Genre: Pop
• Released: 08/22/2006
• Format: CD