Brian Stokes Mitchell  (Audio CD) 
by Brian Stokes Mitchell

It's well known that the majority of musical-theater stars are women; save for a few exceptions (The Producers, for instance), most of the glory parts are written for them, and they're the ones who elicit fan worship. Brian Stokes Mitchell is among the rare male leads to attract the same kind of following. Few men have his easy-going charisma or his velvety pipes. Thanks to his long-overdue debut solo album (six years in the making), we now know he has even more skills than we suspected: Mitchell produced the CD, wrote the arrangements for several songs, and even conducted the orchestra on a pair of tracks. The repertoire itself isn't that unexpected, but the arrangements lean more toward lite jazz (chimes, lots of chimes) than Broadway. The singer's MO is embodied by a medley of Stephen Sondheim's "Another Hundred People" and Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train." Overall the results are hit or miss, though Mitchell is such a great singer that even the misses are honorable. Opener "Something's Coming" start things off shakily, but Mitchell picks up with "The Best Is Yet to Come" and especially "Just in Time" and "How Long Has This Been Going On?" (on which he recalls Al Jarreau in his prime). The album concludes with John Bucchino's "Grateful," a pat inspirational number which Mitchell infuses with fervor. --Elisabeth Vincentelli