Donell Jones MY HEART

Personnel: Donell Jones (vocals, keyboard & drum programming); Joseph Morant (trumpet); Darin Whittington, Mookie, Edward "Eddie F." Ferrell, Mark Sparks, Kenny Tonge (keyboard & drum programming); Tia Whittington, Shelene Thomas, Chico DeBarge, Patria, Erik Milteer (background vocals).
Producers: Donell Jones, Darin Whittington, Mookie, Edward Ferrell, Kenny Tonge.
Personnel: Donell Jones (vocals, keyboard programming, drum programming, background vocals); Joseph Morant (trumpet); Darin Whittington (keyboard programming, drum programming, background vocals); Edward "DJ Eddie F" Ferrell, Kenneth "Kenny Love" Tonge, Mookie, Mark Sparks (keyboard programming, drum programming); Chico DeBarge, Tia Whittington, Eric Milteer, Patria, Shelene Thomas (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Dave Daschinger; Kenny Ort?z; Paul Logus; Richard Travali; Scott Hollingsworth.
Recording information: Axis Studios, New York, NY; D&D Studios; Hit Quarters Studios, White Plains, NY; Platinum Island Studios, New York, NY; Playground Studios, NJ; Quad Studios, New York, NY; Time Studios, New York, NY.
Photographer: John F. Cooper .
Unknown Contributor Role: L.A. Reid.
After working briefly for La Face Records as a songwriter (most notably Usher's "Think of You," a Top Ten R&B hit in 1994), L.A. Reid and Babyface gave Donell Jones the go-ahead to craft a solo debut. The resulting album, My Heart, introduced Jones to the masses with the help of "Knocks Me off My Feet," his lovely cover of a classic Stevie Wonder ballad. Not only does Jones write the songs and sing them on his debut album; he also produces the album and programs both the drums and keyboards. Thus, comparisons to Wonder are somewhat inevitable, especially because Jones sings with a similarly soothing tone of voice. His later albums show him growing as an artist, but here you see Jones first blossoming. In addition to "Knocks Me off My Feet," My Heart also features "In the Hood," Jones' smooth ode to street culture that appears here in two versions. ~ Jason Birchmeier

• Format: CD
• Genre: R&B