Yesterday Once More: A Tribute to the Music of the Carpenters

Tributee: Carpenters.
Liner Note Authors: Jim Brickman; Carpenters.
Recording information: Brickhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA.
Although Karen Carpenter's voice is what everyone remembers about the Carpenters, it might be argued that her brother, pianist/arranger/composer/background singer Richard Carpenter was more the architect of the duo's distinctive sound. New age pianist Jim Brickman helps make that case on Yesterday Once More, his tribute album to the Carpenters. Brickman re-creates the compelling melodies of the group's songs (sometimes written by Burt Bacharach, Leon Russell, or Lennon & McCartney) in his right hand, while introducing harmonies in the left that provide counterpoint to the main themes. There are occasional echoes of other instruments in the mixes, but Brickman's hands on the acoustic piano remain front and center, and he is true to the Carpenters, and in particular, to Richard Carpenter, in performances that insist on the musicality of the group's work, even in the absence of Karen Carpenter's vocals. ~ William Ruhlmann