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Follow on Google News | Rick Braun SINGS WITH STRINGS Set For Release On Artistry Music August 2, 2011Legendary Jazz Trumpet Player Teams with Celebrated Producer/Arranger Philippe Saisse for New Career Path with First Full Jazz/Pop Vocal Album With Lush Orchestrations of Great International Repertoire
By: Sheryl Feuerstein Rick Braun SINGS WITH STRINGS brings both those skills front and center. And it does so in a way that dips back into the music he’s been captivated by since he first picked up a horn. “This album,” says Rick, “feels a lot like coming home. I grew up hearing this music all around the house. Singing it, playing it. Listening to my mom, who was a singer and piano player. She was one of those people who knew every part of a song – the verse, the chorus, the refrain, all the lyrics.” The album will no doubt produce similar comfort feelings for anyone with a love for song. And not just Great American Song. Because what Braun and producer/arranger Philippe Saisse have put together in this eminently listenable recording is a gathering of tunes unlimited by boundaries of origin or style. Some are familiar. Songs such as “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” “And I Thought About You” and “The Things We Did Last Summer” have been memorable themes from the soundtrack of American love life for decades. Rick also especially recalls “I’ve Never Been In Love Before” and “Time After Time” as “tunes I’ve known since I was a kid.” Others are less familiar, but no less memorable. “Once Upon A Summertime” is an English version of Michel Legrand’s gorgeous French song, “La Valse des Lilas”; “It’ Rick’s not the first trumpet player to match instrumental prowess with engaging vocals. He’s preceded by, among others, Louis Armstrong, Bunny Berigan, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Chet Baker, Clark Terry and Jack Sheldon. Their range extends from Armstrong’s innovative vocal style to Baker’s extraordinary balladry to Terry’s unique scat singing. “I’m a big fan of Chet’s,” says Rick. “For both his singing and his playing. I’m much more of an inside player, and my inspirations are minimalist players, like Chet and Miles Davis.” Which isn’t surprising, listening to the airy flugelhorn solos that surround Rick’s vocals on every track. Miles once said that the notes one doesn’t play are as important – maybe even more so – than the notes one does play. And that principal applies as well to singers such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis, Jr. – whom Rick also lists as inspirations. Like those high visibility vocal stars, Rick sings with a respect for the vital balance between words and music, for the many-layered connections between the inner story of a song and the beauty of its melody. He does so with the same respect for phrasing that one finds in a Sinatra or a Bennett performance. But what Rick does with that phrasing, with his use of the “minimalist” From the liner notes by Don Heckman The International Review of Music Track LIsting 1, Time After Time 2. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was 3. Once Upon A Summertime 4. I Thought About You 5. It’s Love 6. Lucky To Be Me 7. Say It 8. The Good Life 9. I’ve Never Been In Love Before 10. Plus Je T’Embrasse 11. The Things We Did Last Summer End
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