(2021) Akira Kosemura - 88 Keys


Review:
Historians may look back upon the staggering volume of recordings produced during the pandemic in awe. With performance venues shuttered and even small-sized gatherings suspended, musicians have turned to recording as their primary creative outlet, the result ones often featuring the artist alone. As his ever-expanding discography shows, Akira Kosemura has used many different kinds of instrumental configurations for his stage, concert, television, and soundtrack works; he’s also, however, issued solo piano recordings, including 88 Keys, a true pandemic recording if ever there was one. In contrast to the improvisational-styled piano albums released earlier, Polaroid Piano (2009) and One Day (2016), 88 Keys features formally composed pieces that might eventually have been presented in a more elaborate form but because of lockdown restrictions were recorded as solo works at his private studio. Reflecting the melancholy induced by the pandemic situation, the material is largely delicate in character, wistful in tone, and minimal in presentation. Some of the fourteen pieces are so simply designed, in fact, one imagines they could be performed by a student learning the instrument. Above all else, 88 Keys brings into sharp relief Kosemura’s inexhaustible talent for melody. Each of these fourteen neo-classical reveries pulls one into its graceful world with enticing motifs and patterns. None overstays its welcome, with the pianist taking just enough time to give the piece definition before moving on to the next. His technical command of the instrument is called upon at various times, but, as mentioned, many an arrangement is free of embellishment and thus not demanding of someone with virtuosic ability to execute it. While an insistent rhythmic lilt gives a number of pieces momentum (despite its title, the waltz feel in “Hidden Waltz” is hardly concealed), others are content to invite peaceful contemplation. Perhaps no pieces better capture the spirit of the recording than “Another Place” and “Nothing Stays the Same,” expressive outpourings that veritably ooze longing for happier times and carefree moments. As pure a representation of Kosemura’s artistry as might be imagined, 88 Keys isn’t a panacea, but it is certainly capable of bringing comfort and solace to those in need.





Track Listing:
1.Lueur 03:00
2.Asymptote 02:42
3.Wavering Heart 02:26
4.Yure 01:44
5.The Eighth Day 02:39
6.Komorebi 02:14
7.Spiral 01:52
8.Karen 02:39
9.Hidden Waltz 02:39
10.Aura 02:13
11.Reverie 01:24
12.Another Place 02:38
13.Nothing Stays The Same 04:11
14.By Night 01:40


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