AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jim Brickman

Artist:Jim Brickman f/Collin Raye &Susan Ashton

Song:The Gift

Album:Playlist:The Very Best of Jim Brickman

Pianist Jim Brickman is one of the cornerstones of what was called New Age music. Back in the 50s it was called Easy Listening. Brickman recorded for the main label for New Age Windham Hill Records. They were riding high until Will Ackerman sold Windham Hill to BMG in 1993. Those recordings are now owned by Sony. Most of Windham Hill's music was instrumental. But Brickman frequently used guest vocalists and had success in Adult Contemporary and to a lesser extent Country. Brickman was born Nov. 20, 1961 in Cleveland and he grew up in the suburb of Shaker Heights. He played piano in the high school band. When he heard fellow student Anne Cochran sing, he asked if they could work together and they won a talent contest at a local radio station. Brickman studied composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music and business at Case Western Reserve University. He started his own jingle company in 1980. He also wrote music for Jim Henson shows like Sesame Street. By 1993, Brickman was tired of writing jingles. So he sent a demo to Windham Hill and they signed him. That demo was the basis of Brickman's 1994 album No Words which he wrote and produced. The album did well. It was very typical of Windham Hill. His 1995 album By Heart topped the New Age chart. This was his first time working with producer Mark Wolfram and he would work with him on the next few albums. The turning point for Brickman came with the 1997 album Picture This which featured country singer Martina McBride on the single Valentine. This reached #53 on the Country Singles chart and gave a big boost to album sales. Valentine did even better when it appeared on Martina's 1998 album Evolution. It reached #30 on the Billboard 200 which is really good for New Age music. Brickman's next album was the 1997 Christmas album The Gift. The single The Gift featured country singer Collin Raye and CCM singer Susan Ashton. It reached #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #51 on the Country Singles chart. Brickman wrote The Gift with Tom Douglas who was in The Cheaptones with Martina McBride. This was produced by Dan Shea though Brickman and Wolfram produced the rest of the album. Other guest vocalists were Kenny Loggins and the CCM group Point of Grace. Brickman used guest vocalists on all his albums from that point and you can get them all on this budget comp. This includes Michael W. Smith, Jane Krakowski and Michael Bolton. Since leaving Windham Hill in 2005, Brickman has recorded for Savoy, Compass and he currently owns his own label distributed by Green Hill. He also has a podcast on Spotify. Here's the video for The Gift featuring Collin Raye and Susan Ashton.