A Superhero unmasked

Most superheroes have a so-called "secret identity" – a convenient mask that makes it easier for them to walk amongst mortals, an alter ego that makes it easier for them to blend in with the crowd.

Superman is Clark Kent, Batman is Bruce Wayne and Spiderman is Peter Parker.

So, what’s all this talk about superheroes leading to? Well, as it turned out, Brian McKnight wasn’t just exactly how the public perceives him to be. Sure, he’s a pop and R&B superstar, but underneath all that glam and adulation lies the heart and soul of a disciplined musician whose antsy fingers can very well do the talking.

So, who is the real Brian McKnight?

If he wanted to, he could have been another jazz piano virtuoso, wafting through the most complex changes with the virtuosity of a Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea all rolled into one.

On the other hand, he could also have been a rock guitar god, wringing ear-splitting volumes of blistering distortion at breakneck speeds. But that’s not all. Wielding an electric bass, he could also outfunk all those Motown groove gods if we wanted to.

But he is, after all, a singer first and foremost. "What I can write with my words and what I can sing will take me a lot farther into the hearts and minds of people who can’t fathom those types of music I’d love to play," he explains.

Despite the laurels, Brian easily shrugs off the undeserved adulation. "Here’s the thing about music. With every other entertainment media, we put people on a pedestal since they can do things at a level higher than what ‘normal’ people do. You can see it in the sports figures, the basketball, football players, etc."

"When it comes to music, it really becomes the least common denominator," Brian rambles on. "With the advent of video, when it became important what people looked like, it completely changed the talent level. Nowadays, you don’t necessarily even have to have talent... to be a megastar in the business. The most incredible musicians are doing it for the love, of which is what you should do it for, but they’re not being compensated on the same level. It’s a bad picture that’s painted now. I just wish it was sort of the same with music as it is with everything else."

Apparently, the guy knows where he’s coming from. As early as his teens, he was already copping piano licks off Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans and early Herbie Hancock records. His probing musical mind would readily dissect a Steely Dan composition or an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. "A lot of times," Brian expounds, "what you hear is not what you really hear. It’s just implied."

It’s an approach that’s rubbed off on his early work. Asked how he manages to keep his pianistic ‘virtuosity’ in check, he replied, "Ah, but it’s there in my records! If you listen closely to the intro of Back at One, you’ll see that I can go there in that Herbie Hancock mode. But then the whole rest of the song is really very simple. So, I try to figure out ways to get off musically within the context of what I’m doing, and in a way that makes sense to me."

"The way Donald (Fagen) and Walter (Becker) did it, they figured out ways to make it so that it was definitely a jigsaw. It’s just incredible when you get to that point," Brian adds. "I started shedding that stuff when I was 11 or 12."

His dream project, believe it or not, will be a jazz-oriented album. "I’m gonna call Herbie (Hancock), Ray Brown... it would definitely be straight-ahead – somewhere between Nat (King Cole), Frank (Sinatra) and Harry Connick. I’ve talked to Harry about doing some sort of a Frank meets Nat, Harry meets Brian kind of thing (laughs). That would be cool," he says.

Meantime, Brian pays homage to his musical roots in his fifth album, aptly called Superhero, released locally under the MCA Universal label. "This is the first album where I’ve incorporated every type of music I like. It’s the first time I let people see I can rock... the first time I’m also going back to a lot of that jazzier feeling," he proudly says.

True enough, the title track finds Brian at his rockingest best, emulating that AC/DC vibe with those heavy guitar riffs. But although the soloing isn’t exactly in the Van Halen mode, Brian still pulls it off well.

Love of My Life, on the other hand, is a throwback to his Marvin Gaye and Prince influence. Then, there’s his duet with ’NSYNC’s Justin Timberlake on My Kind of Girl, and another collaboration with Nate Dogg and Battlecat.

"I also had a swell time working with one of my bass idols, Fred Hammond (from the Commissioned band). Growing up, I played bass because he influenced me. Doing a song with him made it all come full circle," Brian reiterates.

Martin Nievera fans will be glad to know that MCA Universal will be repackaging Brian’s Superhero album to include a duet Brian did with Martin, titled Thank You For Saving My Life. "I’ve already recorded it, and we had a lot of fun working on that," Brian ends.