Bret on Bublé almost never saw the light of day.
His whole adult life, Bret Raybould has pursued comedy. From basements in Brooklyn to theatres in San Francisco, Bret performed all across the country, making a living (though scant) that most comedians would envy.
But, deep in his heart, he harbored a secret: He wanted to be a singer.
Afraid to share his true talent with the world, he carried on with his goofball comedy routine, stuck in the paralyzing state of inertia life so often puts us all in.
Then one day, everything changed. He was singing in the shower – out-of-character for the typically vocally-self-conscious Bret – when his roommate must have overheard him because when he walked out of the bathroom, she stopped him.
“I’m sorry, but who was that?” she asked.
“What?”
“That song... who were you listening to? It was so beautiful.” It was at this moment Bret could see she had tears streaming down her face.
“Oh, that was just me.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“It was.”
“Yeah, right, you jerk.” Rolling her eyes, she then turned away and began walking towards her room. If Bret was going to accurately convince her the voice behind her tears was his, he was going to have to face his biggest fear. He was going to have to sing in front of someone else.
And so, overtaken by a sense of obligation to share his gift with another human being, Bret began, quietly at first, singing no song in particular, only ethereal notes from the heart.
The roommate stopped dead in her tracks and turned. Even more tears were streaming down her face.
For four more minutes, Bret continued singing his freeform croon. Later this croon would become a signature vocal style that his fans would come to know and love. But, for now, it was just a tender moment between people.
After he finished, his roommate wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry… it’s just… that was the most beautiful sound I think I’ve ever heard. It sounded like Michael Buble, but… if he was an angel.”
This struck Bret. His whole life, he had idolized The Great One. But to be compared with him… well, that was an entirely new proposition.
Bret put his hand on his roommate’s shoulder and wiped a single tear from her cheek. “That’s where you’re wrong. Michael Buble is an angel.”
At this moment, Bret knew the path he must take.
He must wash away his past, throw away his insecurities, tear down his inhibitions, and pulverize his self-doubts. He must make the ultimate Michael Buble collection, as both a tribute and a challenge to the Great One, a way of saying “I respect what you’ve built… but I’m coming for your throne.”
And so, armed with nothing but a podcast microphone and a billion-dollar voice, he birthed Bret on Bublé, a magnum opus of grand proportions and even grander ambitions, a master stroke of vocal undulation and compositional experimentation, a path forward for jazz.
Broken up into two parts–Classic Bublé (Side A) and Christmas Bublé (Side B)–the 16-track masterpiece showcases both Bret’s once-in-a-generation voice and his off-the-charts charisma, as the “Banter” peppered throughout the album supply a little bit of comic relief and a lotta bit of lovemaking ambiance.
The musical accompaniments, provided by journeyman studio band Chester Velvetine and the Brick City Circuit, only serve to buttress Bret’s sweet serenades. As Spin magazine puts it, “Not only is first-time singer Bret Raybould at the top of his form, but sidekick impresario Chester Velvetine gifts us with jazz standards that are somehow classical, modern, and forward-thinking. This is music for the moment and the post-moment. This is peak Velvetine.”
Make no mistake, though this album started as an album of covers, Bret’s versions of the songs are so transcendent, transformative, and iconic that they are now the definitive versions, and all other previously-recorded versions now classify as covers.
So, join the phenomenon. Confirm the greatness and endorse the genius of an artist that the industry seems to deny. Send Bret to his rightful place at the top of the charts. Buy–don’t stream–the album for $3.75 (the minimum price an album must cost to register on the charts) and you can show the music industry and the world what real, true art sounds like.
This holiday season, an icon is born.
