Search - Charles Brown :: In a Grand Style

No blues singer ever delivered the music with such sophisticated elegance and sublime smoothness as the late Charles Brown. The seductive charm of his marvelously malleable voice created a postmidnight blues mood all his own, and this collection of previously unreleased material from the early '90s immediately pulls the listener into that special world. Better yet, there are no distractions and no extraneous sidemen to wade through. It's just Brown, his evocative voice, and a piano. And that's more than enough as he rolls through 10 tunes, including everything from the deep blues of "Black Night" to disco soulman Van McCoy's "Sorry Baby," in fine form. Brown contributes several songs of his own and throws in a playful classical diversion, "Charles' Chopin Liszt," for good measure. But it's Brown's deft ability to conjure up an emotional atmosphere with just a twist of a phrase that is the main attraction, and he uses that talent to excellent effect, exploring the trials and tribulations of romance with masterful ease and unusual insight. In a Grand Style, as up-close and personal as any blues recording gets, probably isn't for the guitar-boogie crowd, but all those who have loved and lost can enjoyably lose themselves in Brown's soulful blues mood. --Michael Point