Sunday, July 23, 2006
“Use the talents you possess; for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best.”
This is a short appreciation of a singer and actress – Barbara Brussell. Not having the same appreciation for the main stream of music flowing through the airwaves and iPods of America, I buy totally weird recordings that no one else seems to know exist. This often backfires and I’m left with a round silvery piece of plastic that really doesn’t even make a very good coaster, but sometimes, sometimes I find a piece of music that will become one with my head and that will be remembered forever. It could be a new song, but it’s almost equally likely to be a new version of an old song. From somewhere, the dusty bins of e-bay or a miscellaneous pile in a used cd store, I picked up an album called Patterns with a cover picture of this kooky but pretty lady in an oversized hat.
Her voice is a little breathy now and then, and just this side of plaintive, and she sings a version of When I Marry Mr. Snow (from Carousel) that makes me feel that she really knows Mr. Snow, and really really really wants to marry him because she believes that they will have a wonderful life together, and that her dreams about their future and her will to make life happy will make life happy.
She also sings one of those songs that’s actually an interior monologue – and the thing about those types of songs is that the more you know about what someone is thinking the more likely you are to start thinking that they’re totally nuts, and that’s no exception in this case. But the manic zaniness isn’t off-putting, it’s exhilarating. The song is called I Wish.
The strength of this album (I never know what to call recordings nowadays – I still want to call it a record, for Pete’s sake! – can you properly call a cd an album?) ahem, the strength of this cd, Patterns, made me buy her second album, which is called Lerner in Love. And, as it turns out, it has some very enjoyable tracks, but it’s nowhere near as out there as Patterns. But consider the source: Alan Jay Lerner (My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Camelot, etc.) was a brilliant lyrist; he’s just not so cutting edge.
Barbara has a web site, but the last time I checked it hadn’t been updated in a while and didn’t have any information about future concerts or appearances. It does have clips from songs off Lerner in Love, http://www.barbarabrussell.com/ and if you go to the website for the cd label, you can hear samples from Patterns. http://www.lmlmusic.com/ (Although they only let you listen to three of the slower-tempo songs.)
There are so many things I hear that I never need to hear again. For me, this isn’t one of them; I want to hear more of this singer, and see her on stage. She could be the definitive Desiree in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Here’s hoping that worthy projects come her way.
This is a short appreciation of a singer and actress – Barbara Brussell. Not having the same appreciation for the main stream of music flowing through the airwaves and iPods of America, I buy totally weird recordings that no one else seems to know exist. This often backfires and I’m left with a round silvery piece of plastic that really doesn’t even make a very good coaster, but sometimes, sometimes I find a piece of music that will become one with my head and that will be remembered forever. It could be a new song, but it’s almost equally likely to be a new version of an old song. From somewhere, the dusty bins of e-bay or a miscellaneous pile in a used cd store, I picked up an album called Patterns with a cover picture of this kooky but pretty lady in an oversized hat.
Her voice is a little breathy now and then, and just this side of plaintive, and she sings a version of When I Marry Mr. Snow (from Carousel) that makes me feel that she really knows Mr. Snow, and really really really wants to marry him because she believes that they will have a wonderful life together, and that her dreams about their future and her will to make life happy will make life happy.
She also sings one of those songs that’s actually an interior monologue – and the thing about those types of songs is that the more you know about what someone is thinking the more likely you are to start thinking that they’re totally nuts, and that’s no exception in this case. But the manic zaniness isn’t off-putting, it’s exhilarating. The song is called I Wish.
The strength of this album (I never know what to call recordings nowadays – I still want to call it a record, for Pete’s sake! – can you properly call a cd an album?) ahem, the strength of this cd, Patterns, made me buy her second album, which is called Lerner in Love. And, as it turns out, it has some very enjoyable tracks, but it’s nowhere near as out there as Patterns. But consider the source: Alan Jay Lerner (My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Camelot, etc.) was a brilliant lyrist; he’s just not so cutting edge.
Barbara has a web site, but the last time I checked it hadn’t been updated in a while and didn’t have any information about future concerts or appearances. It does have clips from songs off Lerner in Love, http://www.barbarabrussell.com/ and if you go to the website for the cd label, you can hear samples from Patterns. http://www.lmlmusic.com/ (Although they only let you listen to three of the slower-tempo songs.)
There are so many things I hear that I never need to hear again. For me, this isn’t one of them; I want to hear more of this singer, and see her on stage. She could be the definitive Desiree in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Here’s hoping that worthy projects come her way.
# posted by Charlie @ 11:25 AM 
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In my correspondence with birds, I have never noticed the use of "best" but rather their signature white splat - however, my truck puts that on par with the use of "best" by itself.
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