Jim Brickman: Beautiful World

This PBS production presents pianist, author, and radio show host Jim Brickman—dubbed “America's romantic piano sensation”—in concert in 2009 at Casino Niagara in Niagara Falls. Divided into three acts, the show features Brickman performing with six backup singers and a full orchestra, heavy on the strings. Guests include vocalists Anne Cochran, Jon Secada, Mark Masri, Adam Crossley, American Idol's Melinda Doolittle, and Celtic Woman's Orla Fallon, along with pianist Arthur Hanlon and violinists Tracy Silverman and David Klinkenberg (Fallon also plays the harp on “Jesu Joy”). On tour in support of his Beautiful World CD, Brickman's message is “friendship and collaboration and peace and inspiration.” That sounds, uh, nice, but Brickman is refreshingly self-aware that there isn't anything particularly edgy about his adult contemporary catalog, noting himself that it tends to appear in “spas and elevators and bathtubs and hospitals and on-hold music.” Although the parade of vocalists might suggest that he's strictly a piano man, Brickman handles a few vocals, too (if anything, his mellow tenor falls easier on the ears than that of over-emoters, like Masri). While most of the 15 selections here qualify as easy listening, “We Will Find a Way” benefits from Doolittle's gospel-style testifying, and Brickman includes a few covers—such as “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and “What a Wonderful World,” to which Secada adds a few Spanish verses. DVD extras include 20 minutes of bonus concert footage. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (K. Fennessy)