My Romance: An Evening with Jim Brickman

Picture George Winston with a Michael Bolton sensibility and you've pretty much got the smooth contemporary pop/jazz piano sound of Windham Hill recording artist Jim Brickman. Drawing from 5 best-selling albums, Brickman and guests Olivia Newton-John, Donny Osmond and Dave Koz, put on a crystal clear audiophile show in this PBS-aired concert, which includes the hits "Angel Eyes," "Rocket to the Moon," "The Gift," and "Valentine," along with "I Honestly Love You" (with Newton-John's beautiful mature vocals) and "Rainbow Connection" (with Osmond). Ranging from piano solo, piano/string ensemble pieces, piano/sax numbers (with Koz) and vocals, My Romance's exquisite Dolby Digital 5.1 concert hall sound will find a ready-made audience amongst contemporary easy listening fans, and--lest you think that there's a value judgment implied there--let me just say that I was happily doing the Stevie Wonder sway to the lovely "Lake Erie Rainfall" (featuring Tracy Scott Silverman on electric violin). Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)