Roll over Elton John and tell Billy Joel the news. There is a new piano man in town and his name is Jim Brickman. Brickman has built his career, which combines classical, pop and new age influences, on sold-out concert tours, PBS specials and a series of well-received recordings. His latest CD, Love Songs & Lullabies ( Windham Hill/RCA Victor/BMG ) succeeds on both levels. The love songs, including "Love Never Fails," "Course Of Love" and "You," inspire romance while the lullabies, such as "Dreamland" and "Safe And Sound," suggest restfulness in the most soothing and satisfying manner. I recently spoke with Brickman, for the second time in a year, as he was preparing for the latest leg of his tour.
Gregg Shapiro: Last year, when I interviewed you for the first time, you had just released your eighth CD, Simple Things, and a book of the same title. Do you have another book in the works?
Jim Brickman: I think if I have something to say, I would. I don't think the intention is to become an author that churns out books every year. I really felt like, with the Simple Things book, that I had a lot of stuff that I really wanted to say. At one of these points when I feel like I do have more to say, I will ( laughs ) .
GS: Something you wouldn't able to express musically, you can put in book form.
JB: Exactly. I did think about ( writing another one ) during this Lullaby album, ( because ) I was asked to do that. I felt that I could say it better in music, what I had to say about lullabies and about that feeling. I think in book form, to a certain extent, you should be considered somewhat of an expert in some field to write about something specific like that.
GS: Love Songs & Lullabies, your new CD, is your ninth album in eight years. You are very prolific.
JB: ( Laughs )
GS: To what do you owe your productivity?
JB: ( Laughs ) When you're doing a concept album like lullabies or a holiday album, it tends to sort of flow, because you're really focused on a specific genre or style of music. For a very long time I had been playing lullabies in my concerts and every album of mine has had at least one lullaby on it. Much of the material seems like it was there. I love playing and I play so often. I'm playing on stage so much that I feel like it just kind of keeps coming. Plus the fact that there seemed to be a demand for this lullaby album for years.
GS: "I See The Moon" and "Little Stars" are two of the lullabies from the album's title. What was the inspiration?
JB: "I See The Moon," the lyrics are taken from a traditional poem lullaby that it usually set to the melody to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." ( Singing ) "I see the moon, the moon sees me"--like that. I wrote original music to those standard lyrics that sounded to me more like a prettier kind of lullaby. "Rock-A-Bye Baby" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," which is called "Little Stars" on the album, I had been playing together as sort of a medley in concert for the past couple of years. I just wanted to record it the way that I had been playing it in concert, which was more of a smiley version of the lullaby and less somber, I think.
GS: Even though people who are reading this won't be able to hear you singing, like you just did, they will get to hear you sing on the CD. I was surprised to hear you singing on "I See The Moon." It was kind of a treat.
JB: I sing so much in the concerts. I think a lot of people wonder why I don't sing ( on CD ) more often. It was just kind of a little cameo kind of singing. It was like four lines or something like that, so I figured that I could get away with it.
GS: "Love Never Fails," which is my favorite love song on the disc, has the potential to become THE song performed at commitment ceremonies, civil unions and weddings all over the world. How would you feel if that happened?
JB: I think it would be great. That's certainly part of the intention of that song. To take two pieces of work that are extremely popular independently of themselves and put them together, I actually can't take credit for it, it was Amy Sky's idea, but it was a brilliant idea. I love it. It's probably my favorite song on the album, too.
GS: Are you aware of any of your other songs being performed at such occasions?
JB: Are you kidding? Every one of my songs ( laughs ) . I would say that probably on e-mail, at least a handful of times a week somebody says ( that they did ) . The reason I know is because they order the karaoke version of the songs from our Web site. ( They write ) "My boyfriend's going to sing 'Love of My Life.'" "My wife to be or the maid of honor is going to sing 'Your Love.'" The karaoke versions of my songs are extremely popular.
GS: Jane Krakowski, who many people know from her television and stage work, sings the song "You," on the album. How did you come to work with her?
JB: I had known Jane for a while through mutual friends, Calista Flockhart, and Michael Caprio, my publicist. It's sort of this group of people, especially from the New York Broadway scene, that kind of all sort of know each other. I had asked her originally to do the first TV special My Romance, and because of the shooting schedules of the TV series, it didn't work out. We kept saying, "One of these days, one of these days." When this came along, I really wanted somebody who could not only be on the album, but also was appropriate for the TV special, because it required more of an actor, in the Sesame Street tribute, than it did just a singer.
GS: I'm glad that you mentioned the "Broadway scene." "You" has a theatrical quality to it--have you ever considered writing a musical for Broadway?
JB: I haven't, but I'm sure that I probably will. It's kind of one of those things that I know is coming. While I'm touring so much and while I'm still recording and still developing, to go off this road to commit to something that huge, the timing has to be right for that sort of thing. You kind of see the pattern with that with Elton John or Barry Manilow or Billy Joel. I think it's something that comes when you've decided, "OK, I need to take a break from touring and just write and focus on something else." When you're touring, the way that I am especially, not only domestically, but also in Europe and Southeast Asia, the time commitment is just not to be believed. It's very hard to focus on anything else, except for writing for a new album and for touring.
GS: With the anniversary of the tragic Sept. 11 attacks in mind, do you plan to address the subject in your live performances?
JB: The way that I've been approaching the subject for the past year is that I play a patriotic tribute that is a version of "America the Beautiful," "God Bless America," and my song for the Olympics called "One Dream." It's a dedication and a tribute, but it's not specific to a Sept. 11 tribute. It's really more just an unsaid musical connection to that and just a way of recognizing the patriotism in the country more than recognizing the event itself. I'm not talking about that in concert too much because it's a subject that, especially now, we hear about 5-10 times a day in some media outlets.
GS: It can be overwhelming.
JB: Yeah. I feel that in my concerts, it's a place for people to escape. I want to pay homage and tribute to it, but I don't want to make my whole concert about that.
