Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Album Review: Jonathan Estabrooks "These Miles"

Back in October I decided I need more classical/classy/opera music in my life. I didn't really know too many artists in that genre so I was kinda stuck. However, it happened the day after I thought about this that I got an email from Twitter that said, "Jonathan Estabrooks is now following you on Twitter!" I was like, "Hmm, who is this guy?" So I went to his profile and thought, "Hey, he seems pretty cool. I wonder what his music sounds like." Then I went to iTunes. I listened to one clip of the first track and was hooked and knew I didn't need to listen to the others before buying it. Needless to say, he got a quick follow back, and an immediate fan. His voice was exactly what I was looking for. It's smooth, deep, powerful, perfect. In fact, if I could fall in love with a voice, it would be his....but that would be weird for both him and myself.

Track listings are:
1. "Play Me"
2. "Kathy's Song"
3. "Time After Time"
4. "Le Cose Che Tu Sei"
5. "Calling You"
6. "She"
7. "Por Una Cabeza" (featuring Jonathan Antoine) - This is one of my very favorite songs; many times have I put it on repeat and listened to it over and over and over again because I love it that much!
8. "Always On My Mind"
9. "Away From The Roll of The Sea"
10. "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home"
11. "All The Things You Are/Hymne a L'amour"
12. "Fly Away" (Bonus Track)

So the first time I heard that little clip of "Play Me" on iTunes I fell in love (umm, not with him) and even though I listened to it only once, it would still get stuck in my head and I couldn't wait to buy the whole album! I was definitely not disappointed.
His album has opera, pop, jazz, big-band sound, all that good stuff.
The song "Fly Away" was written by him. The lyrics and music (kinda pop-ish) are fantastic. His voice is totally what makes the song so wonderful.
I've only heard the original version of "Time After Time" once and, well, I can't say that I cared for it, but Jonathan was able to make it sound classy with that voice of his, and I love it!
"Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" has that big-band feel to it and though one may think a man with an operatic voice couldn't pull it off, he did and I think it's amazing.
"Por Una Cabeza" with the amazing opera singer Jonathan Antoine. Wow. Where do I start? I so enjoy this song! Their powerful, operatic voices go together wonderfully! And because of this song I am now a huge fan of Jonathan Antoine as well and have his album (which is also fantastic and I highly recommend it).
"Kathy's Song," "Always On My Mind," and "Away From The Roll of The Sea" are all soft songs. I love when he sings soft songs....and that deep baritone voice of his....wow, so lovely and smooth.
"Calling You" kind of has a jazzy feel to it. I don't like jazz, but once again Jonathan is able to take some genre of music or song I don't care for and turn it into something I very much enjoy, and I really enjoy this song.
"Le Cose Che Tu Sei," "She," and "All The Things You Are" are lovely, romantic songs. Even the way he sings them sounds romantic; soft and powerful.

I realize my review may sound a bit over the top or too fantastic, but I'm simply giving you my honest opinion of how I feel about his album.

In short: "These Miles" is a beautiful arrangement of classy, opera, pop, jazzy, big-band music and his voice is simply phenomenal.
I give the album and his voice 100/10....if that's even possible.
He also has a Christmas single of "O Holy Night," which is also beautiful and should be added to any Christmas music collection.
You need "These Miles" in your music collection. You just do.

Buy his album here.
Visit his website here.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Check him out on ReverbNation.
And here's his YouTube channel.


Grace be with you.

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