Carl Anderson

If Carl Anderson came of age during the swing era, he would have been a Joe Williams or Nat Cole. Part of the rock 'n' soul generation, he follows in the jazz-fueled R&B footsteps of Lou Rawls and Nancy Wilson. Like the post-1970s Wilson (a frequent collaborator), this gifted vocalist usually wraps his soulful jazz pipes around respectable Quiet Storm, and while he has enjoyed the odd charting single and airplay on Smooth Jazz radio stations, Anderson has had a parallel, award-winning acting career on Broadway, TV and film. Anderson should be justifiably proud of his many accomplishments, but we wish he'd cut loose on record the way he does in jazz clubs. We've seen him perform an impassioned and beautiful version of "Autumn Leaves" -- a collection of standards may just put him on the same classy plateau as Wilson and Rawls, instead of the equally talented Al Jarreau. Anderson is also a member of the L.A. Jazz Syndicate.