All in Love Is Fair

AMG Review of All in Love Is Fair

Jason Ankeny
All Music Guide

All in Love Is Fair pairs Nancy Wilson with producer and arranger Gene Page, who brings to the session the same lush, romantic sheen that heralds his better-known work under Barry White's Love Unlimited aegis -- it's an approach well suited to Wilson's vocals, underscoring her sultriness and soulfulness. Page swaddles the singer in billowing strings and slow-burn funk rhythms, weaving a series of luminously sensual backdrops that wouldn't be out of place on Motown or Philadelphia International (it's no coincidence that the material draws on composers like Stevie Wonder and the team of Thom Bell and Linda Creed), but the music never veers so far into the mainstream that Wilson abandons her jazz roots entirely, and she brings to the songs the intelligence and articulateness one would expect.