TIMELESS LOVE

Personnel: Smokey Robinson (vocals); Ken Rosser, Marvin Tarplin, Paul Jackson, Jr. , Phil Upchurch (guitar); Ken Gioffre (flute, saxophone); Bobby Shew (trumpet); Sonny Burke , Sonny Burke (piano, vibraphone); David Garfield (keyboards); Freddie "Ready Freddie" Washington (bass instrument); Paulinho Da Costa, Ricky Lawson, Tony Lewis (drums). Audio Mixer: Smokey Robinson. Photographer: Mickey Cevallos. Arrangers: Smokey Robinson; David Garfield; Harold Wheeler ; Larry Ball; Tony Lewis . While the standards album seems to be a staple of the later careers of established pop and rock stars (Rod Stewart turned it in to his own cottage industry in the late 1990s/early 2000s), few of those artists have either the weighty legend or the sheer unadulterated talent of Mr. Smokey Robinson. Additionally, while many of Robinson's contemporaries are turning out versions of well-worn chestnuts as a way to compensate for a lack of personal inspiration, a flagging career, or both, Robinson claims "I'm In the Mood for Love" and "Night and Day," among others, as though they were made for him alone. Robinson's gentle way with a phrase hasn't diminished much since his heyday with the Miracles, nor has his advancing age hindered his pure, aching tenor. He doesn't shy away from contemporary material (Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time") or his own songs ("I Love Your Face"), but the entire recording is cast in a vintage, romantic hue, with Smokey's angelic voice front and center.