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 Saturday, 20 March 2010
The 5 "Browns in Blue" Print E-mail
Written by Bridget Arnwine   
Tuesday, 02 October 2007

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Browns in Blue
The classical and jazz worlds blend together and produce a sound that can only be defined as pure music on Browns in Blue (RCA Red Seal), the newest release from classical music piano superstars, The 5 Browns. The Juilliard-trained Brown siblings- Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody and Ryan- all began studying piano at an early age. As their musical proficiency developed, these young artists would each debut with major symphonic orchestras and go on to see themselves featured in various popular media sources. Soon, their professional careers began to take off, highlighted by the release of two critically acclaimed classical recordings and sold-out performances in college auditoriums and concert halls, largely to audiences of their peers.

Browns in Blue is the quintet’s third recording for Sony Classical. The 5 Browns appear in differing settings throughout the CD, from individual performances to duos, trios and ultimately the full quintet. While heavy on classical works by composers such as Brahms, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and Schubert, Blue also features the work of Gershwin and WC Handy. What is most impressive about Blue is that listening offers an insight into how these young phenoms hear music. Their sound yields more than technique, a quality that makes this recording highly enjoyable.

On WC Handy’s “Aunt Hagar’s Blues,” Gregory Brown plays with thoughtfulness and warmth as though he wants to rid Aunt Hagar of her blues by comforting her with his music. Gershwin’s “Embraceable You” sounds delicate and sweet at the hands of Desirae Brown, like what every woman has at some point imagined an embrace would feel like coming from someone she loved or wanted to love. “Home Blues from An American in Paris,” featuring a performance by trumpeter Chris Botti along with the play of the full quintet of Browns, is fun and energetic. Botti fits in nicely with the family and the sounds constantly dance from piano to trumpet to piano (and piano and piano and piano again). The bonus track, “Everybody Loves Somebody,” includes the vocals of Rat P favorite Dean Martin. The quintet manages to make Martin come alive, potentially sparking a rumor that either Dean Martin still lives among us or that these five have lived before.

Browns in Blue is fine work. These are young twenty-somethings who are deserving of a headline.

Track listing:

18th Variation from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Rachmaninoff)- the 5 Browns

Carnival of the Animals- Aquarium (Saint Saëns)- Desirae and Deondra Brown, Gil Shaham, violin

Retrato de Alfredo Gobbi from History of the Tango (Piazzolla)- Ryan Brown

Clair de lune from Suite Bergamasque (Debussy)- Desirae, Deondra and Melody Brown

Aunt Hagar’s Blues (Handy/Brymn)- Gregory Brown

Romance from Suite No. 2, Op. 17 for Two Pianos (Rachmaninoff)- Desirae and Deondra Brown

Intermezzo in A Major (Brahms)- Melody Brown

Gretchen am Spinnrade (Schubert)- Ryan Brown

Reflections on “Shenandoah” (Novacek)- The 5 Browns

Embraceable You (Gershwin)- Desirae Brown

Nocturne in C Minor (Chopin)- Gregory Brown

Fantasia on “Dives and Lazarus’ (Vaughan Williams/Anderson/Sibelius)- The 5 Browns

Carnival of the Animals- The Swan (Saint Saëns)- Melody Brown

Ich liebe dich (Grieg)- Deondra Brown

Home Blues from An American in Paris (Gershwin)- The 5 Browns, Chris Botti- trumpet

Everybody Loves Somebody (Lane/Taylor)- The 5 Browns, Dean Martin- vocals



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