To suggest that Brian Clarke Lubeck’s Midnight Sun is a highly listenable album would be selling the work short. It is much more.
In an era where artists that are members of the Smooth Jazz or XM Radio Water Colors club seem to produce the same old music on auto-pilot, Lubeck’s Midnight Sun feels fresh.
Nine years removed from the otherwise excellent Tuscan Sky, Lubeck’s Midnight Sun possesses the strength of the Spanish Guitarist’s Jazz underpinnings while adding a variety of sounds and themes that contrast and complement.
For fans of Lubeck’s previous works, Sun Dress and Invincible will prove to be a reminder as to why you liked him in the first place. However, Road to Mackinac and Adirondack offer a distinctly different feel. Both provide a feel of reflectiveness and sincerity that provide outstanding balance to the album.
I am not a fan of Jazz renditions of popular music – especially of songs I really like. So when I saw Sara Smile (Hall & Oates) as one of the songs on the album, I was expecting to be disappointed. Okay, so I can be proven wrong on occasion – as I was here.
Midnight Sun if explored – will prove to be well worth your time.
The album is available for listening [here]
