MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
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Vice by Ryan Brookes
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
The missing sister, the vengeful WAG, cruise ship claustrophobia, and reanimated Avengers
Three great releases of lost concerts by Duke Ellington Orchestra, John Taylor & Stan Sulzman, and Joe Henderson
To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
Ryan Brookes
Vice
(Self-released)
THERE’S a surprisingly rich variety to this debut song collection by the gifted Midlands balladeer Ryan Brookes, whose talent becomes all the more apparent given that he plays most instruments on this recording — an enterprise usually reserved for the foolhardy or self-deluded.
Dan Booth of Ferocious Dog lends a masterful hand on violin in his widely acclaimed inimitable style and fellow Dog Ken Bonsall chips in expertly with colourful backing vocals.
But it is Brookes’s voice’s warm timbre and tonal range that carries the emotive load in each and every song, from the chirpy Own Sweet Way or City Lights to the confessional and majestic Find A Way.
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