(2020) Laraaji - Sun Piano


Review:
Sun Piano finds new age pioneer Laraaji, often known for making cosmically inclined music for instruments such as zither, autoharp, and gong, returning to his first instrument. Edward Larry Gordon learned to play piano growing up in the 1950s, starting with church music as well as jazz and R&B, with influences including Fats Domino and Oscar Peterson. Following a spiritual awakening during the ’70s, he focused on making improvisational, meditation-based music for autoharp, but he’s continued to use keyboard instruments throughout his career, both electronic and acoustic. Sun Piano contains 41 minutes of purely piano compositions, recorded in a Brooklyn church by Jeff Zeigler, free of electronic effects or vocals. The pieces generally feel joyous and inspirational, reaching back to the musician’s formative gospel influences without directly playing in that style. This doesn’t resemble rousing, revival-style gospel — it’s uplifting, but also highly introspective. An interpretation of folk standard “Shenandoah” fits surprisingly well into his form of jazz-tinged inspirational playing, and other pieces such as “Sunny Day Horse” evoke feelings of a gentle, mind-clearing trip through the vast countryside. On “This Too Shall Pass,” which could easily fit in a musical if someone wrote lyrics for it, Laraaji manages to wrap a profound message in a playful tune. “Moods & Emotions” also starts out a bit jaunty, but is elevated with a more spiritual, searching tone. The album’s final selections are much freer and more peaceful, with “Resonance” approximating a steady float down a river, and “Embracing Timeless” more of a weightless drift. One of Laraaji’s earthiest records, Sun Piano is a pure expression of his talents, as he projects spirited melodies straight from his soul.





Tracklist:



Media Report:
Genre: ambient, classical
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits