Singer/songwriter David Lasley's Expectations of Love has been released in the United States featuring Lasley's recordings of 13 pop, R&B and smooth jazz songs written by such artists as Philip Bailey, Josh Kadison, Michael Kamen, Robin Lerner and Lasley himself. Expectations of Love, on the Thursday Market Music label, was originally issued last year in the United Kingdom by Expansion Records, the highly regarded soul/smooth jazz label. The U.S. release contains the same tracks as the U.K. release along with an expanded CD booklet incorporating additional photos and comments by Lasley.

The Expansion release of Expectations of Love received substantial air play in Great Britain, and the title track was #10 on the prestigious JAZZ FM "Top 50 Tracks of 2000." New York's Next Magazine praised the CD by saying, "On Expectations of Love, his first album of new material in ten years, Lasley hasn't lost his knack for writing and performing timeless and soulful R&B ballads and pop tunes."

Lasley, whose rich, versatile voice spans four octaves, is best-known for his distinctive falsetto. (Esquire included him with Philip Bailey, Barry Gibb and Smokey Robinson as "1985's Top Falsettos.") His talent as a solo performer matches his stature as a songwriter, vocal arranger and background vocalist. He has written hundreds of songs that have been recorded by such artists as Anita Baker (“You Bring Me Joy”), Maxine Nightingale (“Lead Me On”), Patti LaBelle (“Come What May,” ”I Don’t Go Shopping”), Aretha Franklin (“There’s a Star for Everyone”), Boz Scaggs (“Jojo”) and Crystal Gayle ("The Blue Side"), to name just a few.

Lasley has also achieved great success as a background vocalist and has just completed a five-month stint on James Taylor's popular "Pull Over" tour. He's toured and recorded as a background vocalist with Taylor since 1977 and has worked with countless other artists, among them Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Buffett, Ringo Starr, Cher and Chaka Khan.

Lasley's most recent release was Back to Blue-Eyed Soul (2000), a retrospective of his career, described by Billboard as "one of the more refreshing collections you're likely to hear." In Playboy, writer Dave Marsh said, "The great falsetto singer David Lasley put this together by rummaging through his 35-year career… Call it the best Smokey Robinson CD of the 21st century." His other solo albums are Demos (1981), Missin’ Twenty Grand (1982), Raindance (1984, produced by Don Was) and Soldiers on the Moon (1990).

Rolling Stone called Missin' Twenty Grand "genuinely beautiful white soul," and the New York Times commented, "The way his tunes blend the style of Motown with more sophisticated Broadway and Hollywood influences recalls the pop style of Laura Nyro’s classic late-60’s albums.” Critic Mikal Gilmore called Raindance "off-beat, exquisitely beautiful, politically and emotionally savvy art-soul from perhaps the finest pop-R&B songwriter (if not the most affecting high-range vocalist) in America today."

Lasley's early solo work has seen increased popularity in the last few years with the reissues of Missin' Twenty Grand, Soldiers on the Moon, Demos and two albums with his 1970s group Rosie.

Expectations of Love includes the smooth jazz-tracks "What's It Gonna Take" (by Lasley, Robin Lerner and Marsha Malamet), "Meant for You" (by Lasley and Roxanne Seeman), "Expectations of Love" (by Seeman, Philip Bailey, Jeff Sigman and Steve Robbins), and "Good Magic" (by Lasley and Josh Kadison). R&B-style songs are "Revelations" (by Seeman and Jay Oliver), "Love's Forever" (by Lasley and James P. Dunne), "Will to Survive" (by Seeman, Oliver and Jean-Paul Dreau), and "Dancin' On The Smooth Edge" (by Lasley and Robbie Long; this song was the "B" side of Whitney Houston's "Exhale"). Pop-flavored songs are "Joey (I Believe in Our Love)" (by Lasley and Kathy Wakefield), "Night of Our Lives" (by Seeman, Oliver and Dominic Messinger), "Change All of That" (by Lasley, Lerner and Malamet), "When Will I Know Love" (by Lasley and Michael Kamen), and "The Right Way" (by Lasley, Oliver and Michael Prozzo).

Musicians on Expectations of Love include David Benoit, Bobby Watson, Marty Walsh and others. Arnold McCuller, Phil Ballou and Myrna Smith are among the album's background vocalists.

Expectations of Love is available at www.DavidLasley.com and in selected stores..