My Romance: An Evening with Jim Brickman

1	Glory 4:46
2	Rocket to the Moon 3:22
3	Lake Erie Rainfall 3:11
4	Picture This 2:37
5	Love of My Life 4:23
6	Freedom 3:27
7	Edgewater 3:03
8	Valentine 4:13
9	Change of Heart 4:10
10	Circles 2:45
11	The Love I Found in You 3:23
12	Partners in Crime 3:22
13	By Heart 4:37
14	Starbright 5:21

Barnes & Noble

My Romance captures Jim Brickman live in a concert also taped for broadcast on PBS. The pianist, who began his recording career with heartfelt piano solos, has added more and more vocals -- and love songs -- to his albums as time goes by. For this show, Brickman enlists the talents of Donny Osmond, Olivia Newton-John, and Anne Cochran, as well as soulful instrumentalists including jazz violinist Tracy Silverman, on the impressionistic "Lake Erie Rainfall," and alto sax player Dave Koz. From his arsenal of bestselling albums, Brickman has selected the surefire hits -- "Valentine" (sung here by Newton-John) and "Love of My Life" (sung by Osmond) -- and also tossed in a few surprises. Cowritten with Newton-John, the moving "Change of Heart" marks Brickman's first foray into the "broken relationship" genre, while "The Love I Found in You" finds Brickman taking his first vocal turn at the microphone -- and doing a more than admirable job of it. Backed by a string quartet and his own piano stylings, Brickman's intriguing voice keeps the sentiments from becoming overly sweet. The smooth sounds of Dave Koz join in halfway through the track, and Koz stays for a duet on "Partners in Crime." Brickman signs off for the night with a touching lullaby medley, "Starbright," on which he sings once again. Not all the songs and dialogue from the concert video are included on the album, but it's easy to be drawn in by the excitement of the moment, especially with the cheering Salt Lake City crowd charging the event with tingling electricity. All of Brickman's albums are slick and well produced, but the genuine musical camaraderie on My Romance catapults it above the rest. Carol Wright

All Music Guide

After four gold albums and two number one adult contemporary singles, pianist Jim Brickman released this live CD that serves as a pseudo greatest-hits collection. The problems are that the vocals are performed by different artists and not all the hits are here. Released to coincide with a PBS special, Brickman is joined by Olivia Newton-John (who fills in for Martina McBride on "Valentine" and who co-wrote "Change of Heart" with him), Donny Osmond (who fills in for Michael W. Smith on "Love of My Life"), saxophonist Dave Koz, keyboardist David Benoit, violinist Tracy Scott Silverman, and longtime Brickman collaborator, singer Anne Cochran. Brickman's vocal-accompanied ballads are certainly competent for the A/C field, but with maudlin, sophomoric lyrics like "You are the half that made me whole/you are the anchor of my soul" (in "The Love I Found in You" on which he performs vocals and sounds eerily like Michael W. Smith), it's clear that his real strengths are his instrumentals. Though they lack the melodramatic pizzazz of some of the best new age music, that understatement is valued, and they are mostly evocative and always pretty, with "Rocket to the Moon" and "Freedom" being standouts. ~ Bryan Buss, All Music Guide