★★★★★
When you're a music editor, you sit with a pile of advanced CDs you've received from labels or individual artists and play them one by one. Some never make it through the second song, but then there are those you play over and over again, and place in the most prominent spot in your CD library. One of these A-1 CDs is Rick Braun's 2011 "Rick Braun Sings with String," from Mack Avenue Records. It takes a huge effort to produce such a glorious album...
- www.jazzreview.com
2011-10-13
★★★★★
Among the coterie of jazz musicians who occasionally serve up a side of vocals, two of the finest practitioners were Chet Baker and Bobby Troup. Smooth trumpet virtuoso Rick Braun, a now-and-then singer for most of his career, takes what is being touted as his first full-length dive into the vocal pool--it's not, as he delivered a Japan-only album of pop vocals in the mid-'80s--and surfaces midway between Baker and Troup...
- jazztimes.com
2011-10-11
★★★★★
If "easy listening" weren't already a catchphrase it would most certainly apply here. The Rick Braun, Richard Elliot collaboration, R n R is probably the most apropos coincidence in music title in years. This masterwork of comfortable grooves show conclusively why these are among the gurus of the smooth jazz genre. Collaborators behind the scenes as well as the studio, the duo founded ARTtizen Music Group in 2005, proving that playing together is not their only thing...
- www.soultracks.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
The other day at work, another of my Jazz crazed Co-workers, Mike Cobb called me into his office and said, "You've gotta listen to this!" Mike and I are alike in the fact that we love to turn people on to good Jazz music. What I heard blaring from Mike's computer speakers was the ever so distinctive trumpet playing sound of, Rick Braun. I have heard a few select cuts on the radio, however the "Whole" CD is magnificent...
- www.jazzreview.com
2010-08-23
★★★★★
Rick Braun is the premier contemporary jazz trumpet player of his generation. He's also a fantastic producer, composer and arranger. For his newest release, All It Takes, he is assisted by his friend and fellow exceptional producer/arranger/composer as well as brilliant keyboardist Philippe Saisse. In the CD liner notes, Braun enlightens that Saisse brought him the beautiful song that was to become the title track and cornerstone of All It Takes...
- www.jazzreview.com
2010-02-18
★★★★★
Can Rick keep raising the bar on great jazz music? This notorious trumpeter / fluegeler / composer / producer raises the bar ten feet tall on his latest release "Full Stride" putting together once again his very best. Two-time winner of Gavin's smooth jazz "Artist of the Year", Rick brings out all the tricks with a great blend of smooth jazz, R & B, soul-healing ballads and funk for days...
- www.jazzreview.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Rick Braun is in high demand these days, both as a trumpeter and a producer - he certainly has his thumb on the pulse of today's adult contemporary music. His solo debut on Warner Brother, hot on the heels of last year's successful collaboration with Boney James on Shake It Up , should further extend his mastery of the idiom...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2009-06-05
★★★★★
Okay, so, what can I tell you about Rick Braun's Kisses in the Rain? The black-and-white photo of Braun in the CD foldout shows him in heavy mock Herb Albert/Miles Davis/Frank Sinatra mode: Hat pulled down over his eyes, face turned away from the camera, shirt unbuttoned to expose chest hair, trumpet resting on one knee.
Hoo boy. We're in deep, deep, smooth jazz territory here, people...
- www.popmatters.com
2009-03-22
★★★★★
Body & Soul, explores an introspective, thoughtful side of Rick Braun's artistry. Funk grooves and irresistible pop melodies still prevail in subtler shades, but Braun reflects maturely on the changes of his life with a collection that pays homage to his ongoing love for more traditional jazz. The result is his most thought-provoking, eclectic and artistically satisfying album to date...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
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