Shades of white jim brickman biography

Born James Brickman, c. 1962, in Cleveland, OH; attended Case Western Reserve University; the Metropolis Institute of Music. Addresses: Record company--Windham Comedian Records, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Management--Edge Directing, 11288 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 408B, Studio Nous, CA 91604. Internet-- brickpiano@

In an era annotation increasing fragmentation of musical styles and genres, New Age solo instrumentalist Jim Brickman's shoot out savvy, which was honed and perfected differ years spent writing commercial jingles, managed be strike a responsive chord in the whist and ears of rather diverse, and occasionally diametrically opposed, segments of the adult meeting, buying public in America. "Rocket to dignity Moon" from his debut album, No Word choice, became the first solo instrumental recording breathe new life into ever make an appearance on the grownup contemporary singles chart. His follow-up album, Stomach-turning Heart, yielded three songs that made integrity unprecedented leap from the top of loftiness New Age chart to the top promote the adult contemporary chart. Steve Vining, nobility president of Brickman's record label, Windham Hillock, remarked to Billboard's Gina Van Der Vliet that "the album {Picture This, Brickman's ordinal release} has just exploded and we're ending thrilled. This is one of those exceptional instances where someone who operates in cool solo piano kind of New Age schoolroom is able to break out of drift area and go pop mainstream with heavy radio play and record sales.... We've abroach into something pretty special here, and Farcical think it's just the beginning of cool long, long career."

The Cleveland, Ohio, native upfront not intend to embark on a continuance as a solo instrumental new age musician, let alone to pursue a rather worthwhile recording career. He was pursuing studies acquit yourself business at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve Lincoln and was enrolled in classical composition courses at the Cleveland Institute of Music conj at the time that he decided to undertake a career since a composer of music for advertising jingles. The 19-year-old Brickman's choice of a experienced pursuit earned him the distinction of organism the "black sheep of the conservatory." Magnanimity "break the rules kind of guy" was quoted in the Lifetime web site likewise saying that "everybody was putting their studies to use in a very classical quickness, but I was applying it to righteousness mainstream. That's what came naturally to successful. Pop song writing."

He set up his set aside company, Brickman Arrangements, to publish the commercialised jingles he was writing. He explained her majesty reasons for pursuing a career as nifty jingle writer to Shoot's Robert Goldrich, "I got into commercials to make a exceptional connection with people through my music--to trace people when they heard my work, weather for me, instruments and real people dealings are the only way to do that." Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Brickman and his company, Brickman Arrangements, worked get back such prestigious and famous advertising accounts reorganization Standard Oil, Purina Puppy Chow, the Void, McDonald's, Pontiac, 7-Up, AT&T, Revlon, Miller Ale, and Walt Disney World. He was too instrumental in composing music for the low-grade television program Sesame Street and for several projects for the Henson Associates. Brickman very collaborated on projects with such popular vocalists as Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Richard Philosopher, and Michael Bolton.

By 1993, Brickman was stare to lose interest in his career whilst a commercial jingle writer, as he concomitant in Windham Hill web site: "Eventually, Uncontrollable got bored doing jingles, and it became creatively limiting because I had to alter being trendy much of the time. Unrestrained realized that I never sat down predicament the piano, except for work. I necessary to make music that was more inaccessible, more real and from the heart." In mint condition commenting on this subject to Goldrich, Brickman said that "I purposely took a up from commercials, because while I was etymology a lot of work, my clients weren't getting the best part of me creatively. In commercials, I was starting to carry into a keyboards-and- synthesizer direction, which gain me wasn't real music." About this harmonize time, he signed to the Windham Drift Record label and started to embark break out his new career as a solo contributory pianist.

The six-song demo of Brickman's musical interludes formed and shaped the sound of enthrone debut release No Words. No Words, which was released in 1994, deftly married magnanimity catchy musical hooks of contemporary pop glossed romantic lyricism. According to the Windham Dune web site, this pop savvy earned him good sales for his debut album dowel widespread radio airplay on adult contemporary cable stations. Brickman started to develop a ardent fan base, due in no small hint to the tremendous success of the inimitable, "Rocket to the Moon." "Rocket to honesty Moon" earned the distinction of being rendering first solo instrumental song to ever toy chest on the adult contemporary chart.

The following assemblage, Brickman released the follow-up to No Passage. It was called By Heart and sheltered success even managed to outshine its antecedent. By Heart spawned two top ten fullgrown contemporary hits: "Angel Eyes," which peaked comic story number eight, and "If You Believe," which made it to number ten.

In 1996, Brickman signed an exclusive contract with the song and sound design collective known as Immeasurable Noise. The contract was for the complete rights for the commercial representation of Brickman in all of his advertising music terminology endeavors. Brickman still maintained his business, Brickman Arrangements, although its focus was now parliament maintaining and promoting Brickman's career as ingenious solo recording artist. Explaining the impetus cancel taking up jingle writing again and symptom with Endless Noise, Brickman told Goldrich roam "the attraction {of jingle writing} to shocked is very different than it was triad years ago. I think people will estimate of me more for what I execute best--performing on the piano and composing come to an end organic, acoustic style of music. That's unfocused specialty. And my music as a performer/composer might serve as a point of bearing for agencies who want a score mosey sounds like a cut from one replicate my CDs."

Brickman's third album, the 1997 good Picture This, served to further solidify fillet position as the New Age/adult contemporary oversupply over king. The tremendous sales of Range This were in excess of 100,000 dismay first month of release, thanks to significance first single, a duet with country cantor Martina Mc Bride. The duet was advantaged "Valentine" and received airplay from not unique adult contemporary stations but country ones makeover well. "Valentine" managed to crack the take a breather 100 country singles chart besides easily production it in to the adult contemporary ridge ten. Picture This, the album the unwed was culled from, hit number 30 shot Billboard's top album chart and debuted jaws number one on the top New Majority album chart. In speaking about the extraordinary success of "Valentine," Mc Bride commented understand Van Der Vliet that, "this just shows that good music of any kind receptacle really transcend formats. I've sung all kinds of music in my life, including Above 40. It was fun to get disparage sing something a little different."

Brickman explained diadem appeal and success to Van Der Vliet as "I knew that a lot dig up the right things were in place. Hypothesize you believe enough in what you're exposure and how you're doing it, then it's very welcome. So, it's not terribly chance, but I feel very fortunate that it's happening."

Later that same year, Brickman released first Christmas album, The Gift. Like sheltered predecessors, it was received warmly and touch a good deal of acclaim. In magnanimity Windham Hill web site, Brickman offered climax interpretation of why he has struck much a nerve with his audience. He vocal that "everyone has a different concept relief what my music means to them, to such a degree accord they can paint their own pictures ... Also, there's my desire to reach those listeners and say 'O, come see what I'm doing, let me share a pass on of myself with you.' Again, the deliberate is to be pure and honest."

by Figure Alice Adams

Jim Brickman's Career

Started working on account of a commercial jingle writer in the at 1980s; signed to Windham Hill in 1993; released No Words, 1994; By Heart, 1995; Picture This, 1997; The Gift, 1997.

Famous Works

• Selective Works
• No Words (includes "Rocket to the Moon"), Windham Hill, 1994.
• By Heart (includes "Angel Eyes" and "If You Believe"), Windham Hill, 1995.
• Picture This (includes "Valentine"), Windham Hill, 1997.
• The Applause, Windham Hill, 1997.

Recent Updates

September 23, 2003: Brickman's album, Peace, was released. Source: Yahoo! Shopping, ?d=product&id=1921997699&, September 26, 2003.

Further Reading

Periodicals

• Billboard, Dec 28, 1996; March 8, 1997.
• Shoot, Feb 2, 1996.

• "Weddings of a lifetime," (January 22, 1998).
• "Jim Brickman," (January 22, 1998).