Brian Stokes Mitchell - Brian Stokes Mitchell
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Free Music Notes for Brian Stokes Mitchell
Free Music Review: Not what I expected, but not bad!
Hit: 4 Stars
I was expecting that powerful voice we've all come to know and love , but I find myself quite liking this new Stokes. "Life is Sweet" comes closer to what I'm used to, but his loungy sound is still just as gorgeous and rich as can be. If you're a true fan of this great performer, by the CD now, and if you don't want to hear him trying on a new sound, stick to the Man of La Mancha OBRC. I quite enjoyed this, overall.Free Music Review: Who Is This For?
Hit: 3 Stars
Those who know who Brian Stokes Mitchell is (and if you don't, chances are you wouldn't buy this album), know him as the possessor of one of the most glorious baritone voices in popular music. Witness his performances in KISS ME KATE and MAN OF LA MANCHA, among others. Those fans (I among them) would expect his eponymous album to feature that voice. Wrong! Mr. Mitchell produced this album himself, so apparently this is the side of himself that he wants us to listen to and appreciate. He sings mostly in his upper register and underplays everything. In other words, very un-Brian Stokes Mitchell, very un-Broadway.
The arrangements (many by him) are overwrought, with extended phrases all over the place. (I still can't figure out if "Pretty Women" from SWEENEY TODD is in three or four.) "Something's Coming" loses all its steam by being tricked out in these added beats and measures.
It's one thing to do something original with Broadway standards. It worked beautifully for Barbra Streisand back in the 80s with her THE BROADWAY ALBUM. In fact, it's admirable to be original. But not at the expense of the material.
That's why I ask the question, "Who is this for?" His fan base is primarily Broadway. So why, on his first album, go against what his fans expect? Why not do the expected...then follow it up with "this is what I really want to sound like"?
Free Music Review: Wait for His Next One and Hope It's Better
Hit: 3 Stars
I came to this music as a huge fan of American standard songs and show tunes, and a fan of Brian Stokes Mitchell.
And ... I wasn't crazy about this work. It isn't sheerly awful, it isn't a crime against the American standard song, you won't have to phone your friends and force them to listen in order to share your outrage, but it doesn't really work, either.
Mitchell uses a raspy whisper here that just never moved me or made the songs sing for me.
It's not that I'm terribly used to these songs being sung in a given way, or that I'm used to Mitchell singing in his Broadway belt. I'm happy with innovative interpretations of old chestnuts and my exposure to Mitchell is not so extensive that I had any hard and fast expectations of him.
I can just say that I listened to these songs once through, had a real "eh," feeling, gave them another try, and realized I didn't need to listen to this compilation again.
Brian Stokes Mitchell is a very charismatic performer and that comes through here, and that quality gave the songs what appeal they had for me.
I'm sure he'll be coming out with a much better compilation soon, and I recommend that you wait for that.
Free Music Review: The Jazzier Stokes
Hit: 3 Stars
SO...I am a huge fan of the work of the amazingly talented Brian Stokes Mitchell. While this album does not dip into his hearty lower register which so many of his fans have come to love him for, it does show that he is a beautiful jazz singer. His riffs on "The Best Is Yet To Come" are soulful and inspired. I also fully enjoy "Another Hundred People/Take the A Train" and "How Glory Goes", as well as the gospel styled "Grateful". While some songs are a bit too airy for my taste, I still feel like the overall album is a success for Mr.Mitchell yet again. I think he is trying to reach a broader audience and get into a style of music that he hasn't been able to sing in his Broadway performances. This album just shows how talented he is and how amazing his range can be. Perhaps in the future, he will release another solo record that gives us that thunderous voice that we all love. For now, this debut cd will be well worn out in my player!Free Music Review: Less would have been so much more...
Hit: 3 Stars
I adore BSN and I'll pretty much take him any way I can get him, but this recording has too many frills, flourishes and swooping, swooning strings. This is a voice that needs nothing, and the overproduction here is a distraction and a shame. The greatest strength of this wonderful artist, beyond his glorious voice, is his ability to transform a piece of music by inhabiting it, and it's a wonderful thing indeed. These arrangements are over-embellished the singer is lost in the uproar, and the songs somehow lose their meaning. The highlight on this cd is "Just In Time" which is, for the most part, a straight-ahead swing arrangement and Stokes sounds natural, easy, and great.