What brings out the romantic in Brickman - conversations with Ricky Lo

For somebody who plays the piano with such great passion that his fingers are almost romancing the ebonies and the ivories, Jim Brickman looks and sounds very, very shy in the flesh, soft-spoken (talking almost in whispers) and "numbered" in his movements. Prim and proper. Well-behaved. Self-effacing.

Brickman was here three weeks ago to promote his latest album, My Romance: An Evening With Jim Brickman (released locally by BMG Pilipinas Inc.), recorded late last year. The album, featuring selected Brickman compositions done by selected artists, cements Brickman’s reputation as "a cornerstone of adult contemporary music."

The album includes The Love I Found In You (the album’s debut single and the first recording featuring Jim on lead vocals); instrumentals like To the Moon, Picture This, Freedom and Lake Erie Rainfall; duets such as The Love Of My Life sung by Donny Osmond; Change Of Heart and Valentine, both sung by Olivia Newton John; By Heart, sung by Anne Cochran; and Glory, performed with fellow keyboardist David Benoit. Other featured tracks are Edgewater, Circles and Starbright (The Lullaby Medley)

"It was about getting the best representation of who I am, who my friends are, what my musical style is and what my stage presence is, all in one," states Brickman.

My Romance: An Evening With Jim Brickman marks the first time the piano sensation has had one of his popular concerts captured for television. "It all ran very smoothly," he says. "My top choices were the very people who worked with me. I’m thrilled with the way it came out."

Brickman himself has long been a staple of adult-contemporary, pop, country and smooth jazz radio playlists. During the past five years he has also become a concert headliner, with gold-selling albums like By Heart, The Gift and Picture This – his 1997 collection which included the beautiful ballad Valentine sung by country star Martina McBride. Valentine rocketed up the charts at both country and A/C stations and became the overnight theme song for that most romantic of holidays. Brickman issued his Christmas CD The Gift at the end of that year. This time his guest vocalists were Susan Ashton and Collin Raye, who added a solo version of the title tune to his million-selling hits collection. The song became another instant holiday favorite and a hit on three different charts when it was embraced by the contemporary-Christian market and honored with a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association.

This is not your first time to visit the Philippines, is it?

"This is my fourth visit here. I come back a lot."

For promo, I suppose, and not for vacation.

"Everytime I come, I end up working so hard that I can’t take a vacation even if I really want to. We hardly have time to go around even if I’d really love to."

When was the last time you were here?

"Oh, about two years ago, also for an album promo."

What do you remember from that last visit of yours and the previous ones?

"Oh, your love songs. They’re great! They’re very, very popular,. That’s what I do mostly – love songs. The Philippines is probably the only place in the world that embraces the melodic love songs so much. So it’s one place that I love coming back to."

Coming from you, that’s a big compliment for Filipinos in general and Filipino singers in particular. Speaking of Filipino singers and songs, you did songs for two of our artists – two for Sharon Cuneta (In Your Eyes, a duet with Hong Kong singer Andy Lau, and What’s the Good in Goodbye).

"Well, you know, I’ve always been a huge fan of Sharon’s voice. I think she’s a wonderful, wonderful singer. I don’t usually get a chance to write songs for singers that I admire. Fortunately, when she was looking for materials, I had some of my songs selected for her to sing, they’re coming out in her album which will be released, I think, in September."

And you also did a couple of songs for Lea Salonga.

"Both for her Christmas album. One is The Gift (Also included in Brickman’s 1997 ‘gold’ album. – RFL), which is very popular in the Christian market, and the other is Even Santa Fell in Love, which is a brand-new song. Lea is the first artist to record that song, so that was a thrill as well."

Why In Your Eyes and What’s the Good in Goodbye for Sharon?

"Well, In Your Eyes was written specifically as a duet. They were looking for a right duet for Sharon and Andy. So I wrote the song specifically for that purpose, for them to sing together. Where’s the Good in Goodbye is a song I wrote a few years ago but which I just kept on my file because I didn’t know what to do with it. And when I heard Sharon’s voice and the way she can sort of sound anything, you know, I just thought it was great, perfect for What’s the Good in Goodbye."

Goodbye sounds like a sad song, doesn’t it?

"Oh, no, no!"

Isn’t it about parting?

"It’s not about parting; it’s about questioning... you know, there’s no part of goodbye that’s a happy thing... you know, so why are we pretending that it’s okay? I mean, it is not basically a happy song; it’s more an introspective thinking about, you know, wow, how is any of this happening right now? I don’t see the positive in all this right now."

Of course, "goodbye" means "God be with you."

"That’s true. But most people don’t know that, though."

Talking about your latest album My Romance: An Evening With Jim Brickman... You must be a romantic person to use "romance" in the title.

"Well, I think I am. The word ‘romance’ has different interpretations, and so has the word ‘romantic.’ For me, it means sensitive, caring and feeling. I think that the most important part of romantic music is the emotional connection it creates between people."

How different is My Romance from your previous albums (By Heart, Picture This, etc.)?

"Well, My Romance is a ‘live’ album, a ‘live’ concert album done in Salt Lake City. First time I’m doing this kind of album."

About the choice of songs for My Romance... Why the following selections (The Love I Found in You, To the Moon, Picture This, Freedom, Lake Erie Rainfall, Change of Heart, Valentine, By Heart, Glory, Circles, Edgewater, Starbright The Lullaby Medley, etc.)? Of all the songs that you’ve written, why these songs?

"It’s sort of a combination of the best known songs by me, performed ‘live,’ and a few brand-new songs, plus my ‘greatest hits’ songs."

What about the choice of artists, such as David Benoit (for Glory), Donny Osmond (The Love of My Life), Olivia Newton-John (Change of Heart and Valentine) and Anne Cochran (By Heart)? Did you have to match the song with the personality and/or style of the singer?

"That’s true, that’s true! But in this particular case, it happened to be that these were taken from a TV special so I wanted performers who are not only great talents but also TV personalities and good performers onstage. They also happen to be good friends of mine. It wasn’t just what you call ‘marquee value,’ you know; friendship has a lot to do with it. So the choice of the artists has a reason, and not just for their ‘marketability’."

How many songs have you written so far?

"Hundreds! I don’t know the exact number because I’ve never really made a count. Hundreds of them!"

What do you consider the song nearest to your heart? The one that really touches the core of your being?

"Angel Eyes, I think, because it defines my style and sound. If you’re trying to explain to someone who I was, who I am and who I will be, all you have to do is play Angel Eyes. It’s an instrumental song."

You are described as "the cornerstone of adult contemporary music." What does that mean exactly?

"That was a quotation taken from Billboard magazine. I think that it means that my sound best defines adult contemporary music. If, for example, you want to define what an adult woman likes to listen to, this would be the example of the kind of music, of love song, she’d choose – you know, melodic and emotional."

Have you always wanted to be a musician?

"Oh, yes, I’ve always wanted to be a musician since I was a little kid. I’ve never really dreamed of becoming a performer onstage or a singer, I just dreamed and planned to write songs. There’s a big difference between being behind the scene, writing songs, and being onstage singing songs."

You can be a good performer but not a good musician, and vice-versa.

"Right! So I never really planned on becoming a singer or a performer onstage; I only wanted to write songs and I never thought I would be the one performing onstage."

At what point in your life did you realize that you wanted to be a musician?

"I think I never really chose to be a musician. You know... let’s say... should I be a doctor or should I be a lawyer? It just hits you, you know."

When did "it" hit you?

"Very early in life, so early that I couldn’t even remember now."

What was the very first song that you wrote, that you sang?

"It was a song called No One Else. I wrote it when I was maybe 12."

Oh, at that age you were writing songs already.

"Well, I was imitating. When I play that song now, I realize that it doesn’t have any sense, the lyrics don’t mean anything. I think when composers start writing songs, they kind of imitate until they find their own voice and their own style. You learn from how other people do it and then you create your own style."

At that age, who were the people/artists you were imitating?

"Oh, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Barry Manilow, The Carpenters, Elton John, The Eagles and several others."

Which work of these artists is your favorite?

"I’ve always loved The Tapestry album of Carole King. A lot of The Carpenters and Burt Bacharach songs – you know, Close To You."

What about inspiration? Do you have to be inspired to be able to write a song?

"It just hits me, all right, but you know what happens, the melody just keeps on going in my mind all the time. It just hits me at strange times. It’s not as much about being inspired by a situation as by the way you feel at a particular moment that drives you to sit down and , that’s it, write a song."

What’s the song that you’ve written when you felt that you were most in love, deeply in love? The song that brought out the romantic in you.

"Love of My Life, I think, because it’s a way of saying to someone... well, it’s like you’re sitting there, next to the person you’re in love with, and it’s like you’re having a conversation, saying the things that are so hard to say in words that I put into music."

Do you, like some singers, deliberately try to convey a certain message with your songs? A religious or spiritual message, perhaps, or a political message.

"I think hope is something that my songs convey to people, that no matter what happens, that no matter how bad things seem to be, there’s always hope. A sense of hope and believing in something. Even though, as you mentioned earlier, there’s a couple of sad songs – and everybody, of course, has a sad song or two – I think that for the most part, that 80 percent of what I write, has an element of positive hope and belief in something."

Such as The Gift which is very popular among Christians. Are you Christian?

"No. I’m Jewish."

But you must be very religious.

"Oh, yes, I am. I also believe so much in the family. That’s the way I grew up – with a supportive family. I come from strong family ties."

What sort of childhood did you have? Did you grow up with a musical family?

"No. No, no, no! I’m the only musician in my family, although I have a distant uncle who used to play the piano for silent movies inside the theater. I call him Uncle Joe. That’s the only thing, no matter how remote, that I can trace my musical roots to."

Do you think that you’ve written "the greatest Jim Brickman" song? If so, what is it?

"I think that Valentine is the quintessential Jim Brickman song because it’s such a classic, coming back every year when the Valentine season comes around. It’s a song sung more beautifully by a woman."