Synopsis
Everything I know about Jim Brickman could fit into a couple hundred word review about a concert performance he put on at the Walt Disney World resort. But upon further review, Brickman has been reaching out to the older generation for a few years now, producing collaborations and appearing at high profile events to bring recognition to his work.
He’s collaborated with quite a few people, and on his live performance at Disney’s Magic Kingdom, the mighty Michael Bolton makes an extended ap…earance, along with Wayne (choke a bitch) Brady and country music young’un Lila McCann. Filmed as a show for PBS, Brickman goes through the standard songs that have given Disney the recognition it has now, along with some newer ones. He plays songs from The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins and other movies.
Now, there’s a lot of participation by guest vocalists on this performance (singers accompany 12 of the 21 songs at the concert), but at the end of the day, this feels like a 90 minute piano recital with a guy who is really into his music, which is no fault of his own, but if you’re a musician, and you close your eyes like you’re really into the music, unless you’re playing something a little more weighty than Disney tunes, this just doesn’t cut it.
Audio
This may only be a Dolby 2 channel mix, but there’s actually a bit of power to it. There’s some low end action throughout, all the songs come through great, but here’s an instance where an upmixed 6 channel soundtrack (or record the thing in HD) would have benefited this disc.
Video
Full screen viewing that looks quite sharp. It’s coming from PBS, and I would hope that they’ve got nothing else to do other than make their broadcasts look good, but Brickman’s red shirt stays vibrant throughout with very little bleeding, and the film clips all look nice.
Special Features
There’s a music video for “Beautiful” with a guest vocal by (gasp!) Brady, along with a making of featurette that’s quick and painless.
Closing Thoughts
If you’re looking for innocuous piano rock with some adult contemporary vocalists, this may do the trick for you. For Disney completists yearning for the “Yanni-lization” of the music library, this may also help, but I think there may be different ways of doing it. I rate this like I do because it looked and sounded good, and I don’t want to get hurt by any rabid Brickman fans who I might call “Bricklayers”.
Special Features List
- Music Video
- Making of Featurette
