Richard Elliot's solo career may fall under the contemporary-jazz label, but the saxophonist's big, chunky sound owes just as much to funk and soul. The husky, lung-bursting rendition of '60s ballad “When a Man Loves a Woman” put the former Tower of Power reedman on the commercial map in 1989, and just as impassioned is the dance-oriented “Stiletto Heels”, in which his lusty growls sidle up to synth squiggles and slap bass imported from new jack swing. Even when Elliot eases into a jazzier sound—hear the languorous “Summer Madness”—he can't help but slip in old-school soul sounds, such as satin-textured strings.