James Day must have one helluva pitch. How else can you explain this rising young songwriter's ability to amass such talent for a shoestring, independent music project featuring ten of his recent compositions? And that's after pulling off the same feat three years ago on his excellent debut album, Better Days. But, other than Angela Johnson (who gathered an all-star collection of singers for her A Woman's Touch two years ago), it is tough to think of any soul artist over the past few years who has brought together a cast like singers Mikelyn Roderick, Jeff Ramsey, Audrey Wheeler, Tim Owens, Gavin Christopher, Deanna and Karen Bernod and instrumentalists Walter Beasley, Ian Martin and U-Nam -- the supporting crew featured on Day's sophomore disc, Natural Things.\r \r Several artists have tried to pull off what have become known as "Quincy Jones" albums over the past half decade, but only a few (such as the Johnson project described above) have turned their ambitions into unadulterated triumphs. When it all comes down, the success or failure of these projects has largely hinged on the quality of the songwriting. And that's where James Day comes in. The New England-based writer is really a classic pop/soul stylist, his compositions uniformly hooky, well structured and listener friendly. Like a Burt Bacharach four decades ago or Barry Gibb in the 70s, Day is a singer's songwriter, providing exquisitely laid out songs for the artists with whom he works.\r \r \r \r Read more: James Day - Natural Things (2009) (review) | SoulTracks - Soul Music Biographies, News and Reviews