Music » Solo Instrumental Music

More like poems for piano than traditional, structured songs, the music of George Winston plays like a lyrical soundtrack to the natural world's rhythms, and nowhere is this more brilliantly enacted than on his third album, Winter into Spring. There are wondrous, beautiful melodies here, but what's amazing is Winston's intense inspiration that spills from his spirit and flows straight to the keys. He uses simple techniques that would hardly impress the most intellectual of music critics but can bring any listener with an artist's heart to tears. Tense and full of motion, his Steinway urgently rolls through songs like aspen leaves fluttering in the wind. From the first sparse, tinkling notes of "January Stars," Winston pulls you into his solitary dreamscape and doesn't let you go until the CD's end. During "January Stars" it's hard not to imagine standing in crunchy snow while staring up at stars glittering in a black, expansive sky. Another standout, the 10-minute "Rain," may be the most archetypal of Winston pieces. Beginning with serene, deliberate melodies, the piece jumps into a chiming complexity that grows until the listener is drenched in streams of urgent, rushing-watery notes. It's fitting Winston named this album after a transition because the music couldn't take you to lovelier places. A masterpiece. --Karen Karleski

Rock bastardizations of classical music are as old as Kim Fowley's--and ELP's--Tchaikovsky tweaking "Nutrocker." But classical interpretations of rock music have generally been something of a high-wire act. While most pop fare has strong melodic foundations for the soloist to build from, Christopher O'Riley has challenged himself here with the catalog of Radiohead, one of modern rock's most acclaimed--and texturally complex--bands. O'Riley's insightful gifts for interpretation (which have previously enlightened everything from Stravinsky to P.D.Q. Bach) produce a hypnotic, emotionally compelling listening experience here; O'Riley is a huge Radiohead fan, and that love courses through everything from the dreamy, bittersweet title track through the brooding loveliness of "Let Down." Radiohead's stock in trade is dense, multi-layered music that leans heavily on electronic processing for its moody sonic atmospherics; O'Riley's evokes those complex textures with but a judicious use of the sustain peddles, a deft use of dissonance (as on "Knives Out"), and a rhythmically anxious left hand. Call them etudes for the post-modern age if you will, but O'Riley's performances here largely achieve what all great interpretations strive for: New insight and enlightenment. --Jerry McCulley

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Release Date: 1995-08-29, Audio CD, Narada

A collection of 29 tracks from almost as many albums, Narada World offers more than 125 minutes of an easily digested assortment of contemporary, mostly instrumental selections that are adorned with varying degrees of international or traditional flourishes. Though some genuinely scintillating works are included here--most notably flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook's two selections and an arresting Persian/Indian hybrid, "Astrae," by the exotic vocal/percussion duo Vas (from Sunyata)--the album is largely an easy-listening collection of modern music embellished with world music accents. This is not such a bad thing. The two-disc set's highlights are its Celtic and Latin/flamenco pieces, which dominate this package. Other tracks include traces of Far East, African, and Native American influences; and on occasion, the juxtapositioning of such far-flung musical styles creates some peculiar segues on the two discs. Yet the overall mood is sanguine and refreshing, a fact that may disappoint earnest world-beat adherents but will satisfy less critical ears. Highlights: "The Road North" by champion Celtic fiddler Alasdair Fraser, Bernardo Rubaja's charming mix of pipes and charango on "New Land," the saintly female vocal offerings of Scartaglen and Connie Dover, and the flamenco dramatics of Oscar Lopez on "Lucia." --Terry Wood

Release Date: 1996-11-19, Audio CD, Narada

No heart or story is too small to touch Danny Wright. All of his CDs include songs written in response to a fan he may never have met, a child or adult in need of healing or for a wedding, anniversary or other cause for celebration. It is from real life experiences that Danny draws his inspiration and through his composing and playing that he is truly a Healer of Hearts. Real Music is honored to be releasing this newly recorded 2 CD collection of his best-loved songs, including The Best of Black & White and The Best of Original Compositions.

Order your copy of this definitive collection from Danny Wright! 25 newly recorded songs are included on this 2 CD set.

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