Pure Intention Milton Suggs

• 1Sing A Song Of Song (There Is A Song)05:52
• 2Sunrise In Malibu (A Pleasant Surprise)04:53
• 3Nzingah (Pure Intention)03:18
• 4Cry Together06:42
• 5Change Your Mind03:41
• 6Firm Roots (What We Really Need)03:53
• 7Old Folks05:20
• 8Along Came Betty (The Day She Came Along)03:49
• 9Pretty Eyes (Those Eyes)03:59
• 10Helen's Ritual (Toxic)03:40
• 11Holding Hands (Holding Your Hand)04:01
• 12To Wisdom The Prize (Wisdom)04:32
• 13Golden Time Of Day05:44
• Total Runtime59:24

Info for Pure Intention

The vocal-piano duo has always been one of my favorite configurations to listen to as well as perform. Timeless recordings from pairings like Abbey Lincoln & Hank Jones's "When There Is Love" and the Tony Bennett / Bill Evans album have remained a fixture in my rotation since my first listen many years ago.

Pure Intention, is my second venture in recording a vocal-piano duo album; the first being "Just Like Me" with my god-father and teacher, Willie Pickens, recorded 14 years prior in 2009. While "Just Like Me" featured compositions written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, "Pure Intention" mostly features my lyrics to music written by some of my favorite musicians and composers like Horace SIlver, Mulgrew Miller, Cedar Walton, Lee Morgan, Buster Williams, and others. This album gave me the opportunity to exercise one of my favorite creative pastimes by writing lyrics while celebrating a few of the artists and compositions that I love. It is a pursuit that I inherited from the likes of Oscar Brown, Jr., Eddie Jefferson, and Jon Hendricks.

Joining me on this album is fellow Chicago native and prodigious piano talent, Michael King, also a former student of Mr. Pickens. Though I have been performing many of these songs for years, it was Michael's technical facility, harmonic ingenuity, and overall inventiveness that opened up possibilities beyond what I had previously conceived.

I sincerely hope you enjoy this endeavor, dear listener, as Michael and I make our contribution to this beloved legacy of vocal-piano partnerships. Thank you for entrusting us with your time and attention, and may you find something in this presentation that continues to resonate with you long after the final note is played.

Milton Suggs, vocals
Michael King, piano

Recorded December 18, 2023 at Samurai Studios
Engineered by David Stoller
Mixed by Dennis Tousana, Absolute Audio, Inc.
Mastered by Harry Brotman

Milton Suggs
Suggs’s voice and approach to music are a reflection not only of his direct lineage, but of the many great voices in Black American music and culture from the past century and beyond. Firmly rooted in the blues Milton sports a rich baritone with the breadth and power reminiscent of singers like Joe Williams, is able to emote with the soulful intensity of singers like Donny Hathaway, and achieve a velvet palette suggestive of Nat King Cole. Milton possesses a unique ability to evoke emotion with a masterful sense of phrasing and dynamics.

A gifted composer, arranger, and lyricist, Milton's music is both honest and inventive, drawing inspiration from a number of influences while forging a singular identity. As a visionary artist, Suggs seeks to pave new roads within the vast traditions that were laid before him for it is the spirit, struggles, triumphs, and stories from the many generations that preceded him that make up the foundation upon which his own artistry stands.

Voted repeatedly a top 10 rising star male vocalist in Downbeat Magazine’s annual critc’s poll, the recognition of Milton’s talents have continued to grow throughout his years as a fixture in Jazz working with artists and bands such as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Orrin Evans, Wycliffe Gordon, Ulysses Owens, and Marquis Hill among others. Milton has also been consistent with his own efforts as a recording artist, producing four albums to date and continually developing new projects with new ensembles.

Born in Chicago, IL, a third generation musician, Suggs recognized music as a gift from a young age; it was later that he would accept it as a calling. While growing up in Atlanta, GA, though continually exposed to music of varying styles, it was with his church choir at the age of seven that Milton garnered his first experiences with singing and performance. While in elementary and middle school, he gravitated toward the upright bass, the instrument of his father and namesake, and later played the alto saxophone and drums; however, it was not until after high school that he committed to the pursuit of music as his life’s work.

Returning to Chicago, he began studying piano with the legendary Willie Pickens, while also honing his craft as a vocalist and performer. In 2012 Milton moved to New York where he immediately took to performing throughout the city, and soon branching out internationally as a performer and educator. Presently, Milton Suggs continues to blaze a trail as a vocalist, composer, and educator touring throughout the world as both a collaborator and leader, embracing each opportunity to explore new creative terrain and further the legacy left by his predecessors.

This album contains no booklet.