CD Review
Joel Silberman - The Glory of Love
1.
My Romance 2. But Beautiful 3. When I Fall In Love 4. It Had To Be You5. My Funny Valentine 6. Easy To Love 7. How About Me?
8. Blame It On My Youth . 9. My Heart Stood Still 10. I Wanna Be Loved
11. Just In Time 12. Time After Time 13. The Nearness Of You
14. I’m Glad There Is You 15. The Glory Of Love
Produced by Warren R Schatz & Lisa Schiff
In the world of cyberspace, the information super-highway and virtual reality -–I still believe in love” says Joel Silberman.
Perhaps it’s our need for intimacy which Joel Silberman feels he can best fulfil, for his treatment of each of the songs on this album creates a welcoming mood of wistful longing and the sharing of confidences. Joel himself
envisages the listener in someone’s arms, sitting by a fireside in a candle-lit room. The sense of being privy to a private performance long after the public has gone pervades each track and few albums could better advertise the tenderness and warmth of cabaret: there’s you, a bass, drums and on a Steinway a man with a deep, enfolding voice.It is interesting how Silberman stamps his personal style on these songs, each of which must be somebody’s favourite, from the very outset; sometimes
tantalising the listener with a piano intro that seems to be taking us into one of the other songs, occasionally allowing the chorus to stand alone without the verse (My Romance) and sometimes using the verse to contrast with the mood of the song as he does with ‘Time after Time.’Most of the songs are taken at a slow, easy tempo with plenty of time and space devoted to the accompaniment; Silberman’s virtuoso piano playing is
always an added bonus and the middle section of ‘When I Fall in Love’ amply demonstrates his mastery of the keyboard.Those who’ve heard the man Amanda McBroom describes as a cross between Big Bird and a Crème Brulee already know that Silberman has a big voice to call on, but it is to his eternal credit that even on the occasional up-tempo numbers included, restraint and seemingly effortless control are at the heart of each performance. He never forces his way through to the big climaxes but that doesn’t mean that the power is lacking. This is true mastery of the art on display.
If there’s a disappointment it is perhaps in My Funny Valentine in which more quizzical affection might have been found but that is more than adequately made up for by the sensitive way in which the lyrics of these great standards are delivered; highlight – for this reviewer the Irving Berlin gem ‘How About Me?, two minutes of poignancy to get under the skin of anyone who has loved and lost.
Treat yourself to an evening of candelight by the fireside and this album from a man whose mellifluous singing have been known only to an all-too-small circle for a long, long time.