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Another Recent Review of the Midnight Rhapsody CD...
Midnight Rhapsody - reviewed by freelance jazz critic, Amelia Feathers
The wine is the right vintage; the candles have just the right hint of
seductiveness. The perfect match for the wine and candlelight is Bradley
Young's "Midnight Rhapsody."
Young's first CD recording on the Omnibus label contains the three important
S's: soft, sensual and sexual.
"I think the CD would be enjoyed alone or with a special loved one, to kick
back with a glass of brandy and just chill," he said.
Whether it's listened to with a lover or in solitude, the pianist has
created a musical jazz menagerie. It's the kind of music the listener
doesn't just hear but experiences.
A classically trained pianist, Young, 37, was fortunate to experience a wide
range of music at an early age. Although the Chicago native began playing
piano at age 4, he probably heard his parent's music in the womb. His
mother's preferred listening was the Big Band sound. Young's father was into
classical music. At age five, Young began classical piano lessons.
While most children his age were interested in sports or watching
television, Young was a musical chemist. He tested ways to combine his
parents' musical influences. At age 7 he wasn't just playing recitals but
was also writing and performing his own improvisational compositions.
When he was in his teens he was a student at Northwestern University and the
Evanston Conservatory of Music. Around this time, after a family friend gave
him a collection of blues 78 records, Young became smitten with the blues
and boogie woogie genres.
His first professional gigs were at Chicago blues hotspots with local
legendary artists like Freddie Below, Big Walter Horton and Big Time Sarah.
He also studied under pianist and recording artist Erwin Helfer.
At age 20, he performed with legendary jazz trumpeter, Chet Baker, at the
Jazz Showcase. "I went to hear him and brought all of my Chet Baker records
for him to sign," Young said. "He was really cool; not only did he sign the
records, but he also shared a lot of memories. A few minutes later, he asked
me to sit in and play with the group as his pianist Barry Harris was late. I
was in over my head but I played OK."
Young attended Columbia College, then studied at Indiana State for a year
before he transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston to study
composition, harmony, counterpoint, arranging and music theory for three
years. His years at Berklee weren't the only education he received: Young
continued playing at nightclubs in Boston. After leaving Boston, he moved
back to Chicago and continued his composing and performing career.
He realized a childhood dream when he recorded with his hero Chet Baker in
1985. Young said the recording is "an unreleased gem," and hopes someday it
will be available for the public to hear.
"Midnight Rhapsody" began in the planning stage about five years ago. Young
composed the songs on his Yamaha grand piano.
He and his writing partner, Geoffrey Lowe, a gifted bass player and composer
as well, collaborated on the music, exchanging melodic and harmonic ideas.
A self-described perfectionist, Young says he didn't listen to people who
told him to "give birth to the music and let it go." "I'm very driven to
want the music to be as perfect as it possibly can be," he said, explaining
that he would go back to the studio many times to fine-tune songs.
The recording was done live in the studio and features outstanding
contributions by some of the brightest musicians on the scene; including
well-known sax player and recording artist Steve Cole, trumpeter Kirk
Garrison, guitarist Pat Fleming, percussionist Rick Vitek, multi-reedist Bob
Frankich, as well as an all star string section.
The CD also features rich gospel tinged vocal arrangements by fellow Omnibus
recording artist Byron Woods.
One of the songs that feature the vocals prominently is the opening track, a
high-energy cover of Al Jarreau's classic, "We're In This Love Together."
The piano states the melody over a lush background of burnished brass and
soft strings while the vocalists' sing selected lyrics voiced like a gospel
choir. The vocalists include Woods, Diane Madison, Dan Porter, Mae Koen and
Kevin McIlvaine.
Some other tracks of note in addition to the title track "Midnight Rhapsody"
are "Laguna Breeze," reminiscent of a balmy evening lying on a sandy beach
sipping a pina colada... another is "Lullaby For A Lost Cherub," written "in
memory of a love affair that one never quite forgets," Young said.
Mike Logan, best known for his work with Ramsey Lewis, Phil Perry, R. Kelly,
Grover Washington, Gerald Albright and Anita Baker produced the entire CD.
When asked if his intention was to create romantic music, Young responded,
"We absolutely wanted "Midnight Rhapsody" to be very sexy, and to inspire
very romantic thoughts."
"The music is powerfully sensual. We've all been through different
relationships, and each piece on the CD reflects experiences and memories in
a bittersweet way... love lost, but not forgotten."
The CD has been getting extensive airplay nationally even though it's on an
independent label. Young's music video has been played on BET International
and has been shown all over the world, in Europe, South America and Asia.
Young says he will probably be categorized as a smooth jazz pianist,
however, he absolutely loves bebop. In fact, his main influences include
horn players like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Dexter Gordon, as well
as pianists like Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson and Herbie Hancock.
Sometimes popular musicians are wrongly categorized, Young said citing Kenny
G as an example. "He's not really a jazz musician; Kenny G is pop instrumentalist.
He has, however, certainly opened up opportunities for other musicians to be heard.
Before Kenny G's success, there wasn't a great deal of contemporary
instrumental music heard on the radio. Kenny G really opened doors for so
many other instrumentalists, whether we are calling them pop, R&B, smooth
jazz or whatever, to have their music heard, and to achieve commercial success."
If "Midnight Rhapsody" is categorized as smooth jazz, and that helps bring
it to a wider audience, that's fine, Young says. However, he hopes his music
transcends the predictability of the genre stereotype.
"However people want to label the music doesn't concern me very much... the
most important thing is that they enjoy it and are moved by it," Young said.
-- freelance jazz critic, Amelia Feathers.
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