''Curtis Stigers'' is the debut album by American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician

Curtis Stigers Curtis Stigers (born October 18, 1965) is an American jazz singer. He achieved a number of hits in the early 1990s, most notably the international hit " I Wonder Why" (1991), which reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. Career S ...

, released on 24 September 1991 by

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. It includes the hit singles "

I Wonder Why "I Wonder Why" is a doo-wop song, written by Melvin Anderson with lyrics by Ricardo Weeks. The song was first recorded by Dion and the Belmonts. Background It is sung from the point of view of a man telling his girlfriend that he loves her but ...

", " You're All That Matters to Me", and " Never Saw a Miracle". The album peaked at number seven on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

in 1992.

Track listing

Personnel

* Curtis Stigers – lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10),

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

(1, 7, 11),

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

(2, 10) *

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist, and secondary vocalist of the rock band Toto (band), Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrot ...

– keyboards (1, 4, 9, 11) *

Randy Kerber Randy Kerber (born September 25, 1958) is an American composer, orchestrator and keyboard player, who has had a prolific career in the world of cinema. Kerber was born in Encino, California. He began his first national tour with Bette Midler in ...

– keyboards (2, 3, 5-8), acoustic piano (2, 3, 5-8) *

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing on Wilson Phillips' debut and sophomore albums, '' Wilson Phillips'' and '' Shadows and Light'', ...

– additional keyboards (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10) *

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949, in Waco, Texas) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest A ...

–

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

(2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10) *

Danny Kortchmar Daniel Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946), also known as Danny Kootch, is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. His work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassi ...

– guitar (1, 4, 9) *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record-producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchel ...

– guitar, guitar solo (5) *

Buzz Feiten Howard "Buzz" Feiten II (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is a lead and rhythm guitarist and patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. Feiten also manufactu ...

– guitar (2, 3, 5, 6, 10) * Basil Fung – guitar (2, 3, 5) * Michael Thompson – guitar (2, 8) *

T. M. Stevens Thomas Michael Stevens (July 28, 1951 – March 10, 2024) was an American bass guitarist from New York City. He recorded and toured with an array of rock, R&B, and pop acts as a session musician and also worked as a solo performer. Career Earl ...

– bass (1, 4, 9, 11) *

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...

– bass (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10) *

Neil Stubenhaus Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist. Career He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. In one of his early bands, The Neighbourhood in 1969, he played with future Kiss guitarist Vinnie V ...

– bass (5) *

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto, but is also one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundr ...

– drums (1, 4, 9, 11) *

John Robinson John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist * John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' *John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *John ...

– drums (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10) *

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Mini ...

– drums (8) *

Paulinho da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

– percussion (3, 5, 6, 7, 10) *

Brandon Fields Brandon David Fields (born May 21, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a punter for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans, earning consensus ...

– saxophone (3) * Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone (3) * Gary Grant – trumpet (3) *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

– string arrangements (2, 3, 9, 11), trumpet (3), horn arrangements (3) * Richard Altenbach, Reg Hill, Paula Hochhalter, Lisa Johnson, Roland Kato, Carole Kleister-Castillo, Rene Mandel, Ralph Morrison, Helen Nightingale and Frederick Seykora – strings (2, 3) * Christine Ermacoff, Ronald Folsom, Carrie Holzman-Little, Lisa Johnson, Karen Jones, Roland Kato, Michael Markman, Ralph Morrison, Sheldon Sanov, Frederick Seykora, Margaret Wooten and Kenneth Yerks – strings (9, 11) * Doug Dana – music chart preparation (1, 4, 9, 11) * Orion Crawford – music chart preparation (2, 3, 5-8, 10) * Angel Rogers – backing vocals (2, 3, 7, 10) *

Alfie Silas Alfie Silas is an American singer who has had a long career as a session singer. She has also had success as a solo artist and has had five hits on the r&b charts during the 1980s. Background Alfie Silas has been described by ''Cash Box'' as havin ...

– backing vocals (2, 6, 7) *

Tata Vega Tata or TATA may refer to: Places * Jamshedpur, a city in Jharkhand, India also known as Tatanagar or Tata * Tata, Hungary, a town in Hungary * Tata Islands, a pair of small islands off the coast of New Zealand * Tata, Morocco, a city in Tat ...

– backing vocals (2, 3, 7, 10), *

Siedah Garrett Deborah Christine "Siedah" Garrett (born June 24, 1960) is an American singer and songwriter who has written songs and performed backing vocals for many recording artists in the music industry, such as Michael Jackson, the Pointer Sisters, Brand ...

– backing vocals (3, 10) * Alexandria Brown – backing vocals (4, 9) * Pattie Brooks – backing vocals (4, 9) * Sally Taylor – backing vocals (4, 9) * Rose Banks – backing vocals (6) *

Andraé Crouch Andraé Edward Crouch (July 1, 1942 – January 8, 2015) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer and pastor. Referred to as "the father of modern gospel music" by contemporary Christian and gospel music profess ...

– backing vocals (6) *

Sandra Crouch Sandra Elaine Crouch (July 1, 1942 – March 17, 2024) was an American gospel music performer, drummer and songwriter. Musical career Crouch won a Grammy Award in 1984 for "Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female" for the 1983 album, ''We Sing Prai ...

– backing vocals (6) * Geary Faggett – backing vocals (6) * Jackie Gouche – backing vocals (6) *

Pattie Howard Pattie Howard (born Francine Patience Howard, April 12, Cleveland, Ohio, United States) is an American gospel and R&B Singer-Songwriter, Producer, Composer and Vocal Arranger. She is a Grammy nominated music industry veteran who has released ...

– backing vocals (6) *

Howard McCrary Howard McCrary is an American musician, entertainer, and actor. He was nominated for Grammy Award in 1986 for a gospel record entitled, ''So Good''. He has also been credited for vocal performances and arrangements on the albums of Chaka Khan, Qui ...

– backing vocals (6) * Perry Morgan – backing vocals (6)

Production

* Tracks 2, 3, 5–8 & 10 arranged and produced by

; Recorded by Francis Buckley at Studio Ultimo (

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

) with assistance from Barry Rudolph; Additional recording at

The Village Recorder The Village (also known as Village Recorders, or the Village Recorder) is a recording studio located at 1616 Butler Avenue in West Los Angeles, California. History The building was built by the Freemasons in 1922 and was originally a Masonic t ...

Westlake Audio Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio with two locations in Los Angeles and West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name ...

and

Capitol Studios Capitol Studios is a recording studio located at the landmark Capitol Records Building in Hollywood, California, United States. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capi ...

(all in Los Angeles); Engineering assistance by Rob Hart and Peter Doell; Mixed by Glen Ballard and Francis Buckley at Westlake Audio and Capitol Studios. * Tracks 1, 4, 9 & 11 arranged and produced by

; Recorded by Rob Jacobs at

Ocean Way Studios Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but O ...

(Hollywood, CA) with assistance from Nick DiDia and Rail Jon Rogut; Mixed by Rob Jacobs and Nick DiDia at

A&M Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property served as C ...

(Hollywood, CA) and The Village Recorder with assistance from Greg Goldman and Marty Brumbach. * Mastered by

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chri ...

(Hollywood, CA). * Technical director for tracking and overdubs on tracks 2, 3, 5–8 & 10 – Tom Biener * Guitar technician on tracks 1, 4, 9 & 11 – Gavin Menzies * Technical advisor on tracks 2, 3, 5–8 & 10 – Greg Loskorn * Production coordinator on tracks 2, 3, 5–8 & 10 – Jolie Levine * Art direction and design – Maude Gilman * Art coordinator – Amy Finkle * Photography – Richard Corman

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

*CD Liner Notes; "Curtis Stigers", 1991

{{Authority control 1991 debut albums Curtis Stigers albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Glen Ballard Albums produced by Danny Kortchmar