Published on Sep 10, 2004
I guess you could say that the market for romantic pianists is
wide open. Ever since artists like Jim Brickman experienced
commercial success, it was inevitable that others would come to
challenge him for a share of the marketplace.
Cameroon-born Mbandi, an artist who now calls Washington, D.C.
his home, hasn’t gotten all of the nuances down yet, but his fourth
disc
Harbor Nights shows he’s on the right track.
If you go into this disc expecting a tropical feeling to the
disc, you’ll be disappointed. While there is a bit of new-age
jazziness to early tracks like “Tribal Dance” and “Harbor Nights,”
Mbandi quickly settles into a pattern where his piano work takes
center stage. There is still enough instrumentation behind him to
suggest a smooth jazz feel to the music, which is sometimes enough
to keep the listener in tune with the songs.
The only drawback to Mbandi’s style of writing is that often it
feels like we’ve heard this all before. Tracks like “By The
Fireplace,” “In Your Eyes” and “The Forgotten Child” all have an
air of comfort to them, like putting on a comfortable pair of
slippers. It’s not a bad trait, but not one which would make Mbandi
stand out in the crowd.
Yet there are tracks which are superb on this disc. The
emotional pull of songs like “Letting Go” and “Dear Mother” yank on
the listener’s heart strings, daring to coax any number of emotions
out of you. This is the kind of songwriting that will get people’s
attention, and these songs deserve to be heard by a lot more people
than who will probably really get to hear this disc. Damn shame,
really.
Especially a pity is that I can see a song like “Could It Be,”
complete with vocals from Alfreda Gerald, as a future staple at
wedding receptions. Look, somewhere in our readership there has to
be someone who works with the numerous soap operas on television.
Mark my words: you feature this song during a wedding sequence, and
your switchboards will light up with requests for information on
it. E-mail me, and I’ll explain it further – seriously.
There is a lot of promise in Mbandi’s work, and
Harbor Nights, despite working along the already-trod paths
of romantic piano music, does work at setting his skills above the
crowd. Yes, you’re going to have to do some searching for this
disc. No, you’re not going to regret it.