All That Matters
The male quartet Portrait tackles another '70s hit, the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love," on its sophomore release,All That Matters. With its strummed acoustic guitar and sensual understatement, the Portrait version reminds one of Babyface's breakthrough single, "When Can I See You." The L.A. foursome applies the same classy singing and seductive romance to the 11 original tunes on the album, but none of them have a melody as attention-grabbing as the Bee Gees' song.  Portrait is the vehicle for the talents of Michael "Angelo" Saulsberry, who plays almost all the instruments on the album and who presumably did the bulk of the songwriting and producing, which are credited collectively to Portrait. Saulsberry is a terrific producer, for he has boiled down the '70s sounds of his heroes Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire and Donny Hathaway to a less cluttered sound which allows lots of breathing space around its sleek, romantic grooves. He is less successful at coming up with memorable melodies and lyrics, and too many of the songs onAll That Mattersglide along in a feel-good haze without ever landing on a specific hook. Portrait may provide pleasant background music for a date night but the songs never quite force their way into the foreground.--Geoffrey Himes