Pops "Remix" in the Mood for Romance

Jim Brickman

Steven Reineke

Ah, romance.
   The second concert of the Cincinnati Pops' new "Remix" series, led by associate conductor Steven Reineke Sunday evening at Music Hall, featured songwriter/pianist Jim Brickman in his Pops debut.
   Brickman, 48, told the crowd that his earliest songs, written when he was a 12 year-old in Cleveland, were actually about the weather (he now lives in Los Angeles).
   Since then, he has found a hotter genre, romance, and has sold over five million recordings, including six gold and platinum albums.
   Brickman, joined by vocalist Anne Cochran, vocalist Mark Masri and electric violinist Tracy Silverman, warmed Music Hall on a very cold night with a bouquet of Brickman hits.  Many, including "Free to Fly," were from his latest album "Beautiful World."
   The event was billed as an early Valentine's concert, and soft red spotlights trained on Music Hall's huge crystal chandelier sealed that message.  Fittingly, Reineke and the Pops opened with Barry White's "Love's Theme," followed by "Seasons of Love" from "Rent" and the Andrea Bocelli hit, "Time to Say Goodbye."
   Brickman's promotional materials state that there have been more "pop the question" moments after his concerts than any other contemporary performer -- an unquantifiable assertion, of course, but easy to entertain.  His New Age sound cultivates good feelings, and he often looks out at the audience as he plays.  He sings now and then, too, in a breathy, confidential baritone, as he did in "The Love I Found in You."
   Cochran, a long time colleague he met in Cleveland, and Masri added sparks to the program.  So did Silverman on a six-stringed Danny Ferrington violin.

Tracy Silverman

Silverman and Brickman stoked the fires before the vocalists came out with "Serenade" and "Bitter Sweet."  The arrangements, by Silverman, demonstrated his (and his violin's) versatility. In "Serenade," he made it sound like heavy metal guitar, then segued into bluegrass fiddle.  In "Bitter Sweet," he exploited its range of color, from deep in cello register to normal violin pitch.
   Of Silverman's "Metallica" moment, Brickman quipped, "it takes a little smoke on the water" to stimulate romance.
 

Anne Cochran

Cochran and Brickman did that nicely in "Never Alone" with Silverman and the Pops.  Masri made his entrance in "The Gift," a track from one of Brickman's popular holiday albums.  Their pre-intermission finale, "Peace (Where the Heart Is)," had the audience clapping along.
   Reineke, 39, a strong, engaging leader who has richly fulfilled his promise as a 24-year-old Pops arranger (he’s now music director of the New York Pops), opened the second half with a brassy, bongo-filled "Gimme Love" from "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

Mark Masri

The second half also included "Caruso," sung in Italian by Masri in a weepy, Neapolitan tenor that thrilled the audience (it's from his latest album "La Voce”).  Cochran and Masri's inspirational "One Dream" saluted the upcoming Winter Olympics in Masri's native Canada.
   Brickman, Cochran, Masri, Silverman and the Pops joined in a medley of love songs, including "After All These Years" and "Valentine," to bring the evening to a heartfelt conclusion.
    Pops "Remix" concerts are performed in concert black (no red jackets) and without the trademark "Pops" sign behind the orchestra.  Reineke developed the series with late Pops conductor Erich Kunzel to showcase different types of popular music.  Final concert this season is April 11 and 18, with Reineke and the Pops celebrating the Beatles.
(first published in the Cincinnati Enquirer Feb. 2, 2010)