Love's River

2014格莱美：最佳新世纪专辑 Loves River is Laura Sullivans 6th album and finds her in fine company with an all-star cast of accompanists, and four of the tracks being produced by Will Ackerman, the Grammy winning producer and founder of Windham Hill Records, as well as production by Eric Sullivan. Her graceful piano style, tinged with elements of contemporary classical music, has been compared favorably with Liz Story and Suzanne Ciani. In addition to piano, Laura also adds additional orchestrations. The album begins on an elegant note with the familiar 1-2-3, 1-2-3 cadence of the classic waltz, on a track entitled "Secrets from the Deep." Laura is soon joined in the dance by Grammy winning artist Nancy Rumbel, who weaves sonorous oboe melodies around Lauras piano artistry. As the piece progresses Nancy also adds tastefully subtle accents on English horn as well. This is followed by a light-hearted tune called "Wishing on a Dandelion. Left hand arpeggios create structure for the right hand to play off of as gentle orchestration lifts the piece to the wind. Another award winning musician and frequent Ackerman collaborator, Jeff Oster, adds soulful trumpet and flugelhorn on "Awakening to Love. While Will Ackerman played a role as a producer on this project, as he has on countless others in recent years, he also lends his formidable talent as an acoustic guitarist on a track called "Blessed." This piece is a quiet introspective ballad that is superbly complimented by his graceful touch on the nylon string guitar. Will calls Lauras compositions "breathtaking and lovely; accessible and yet challenging." " Loves River by Laura Sullivan is an emotional and soul touching listening experience and is a wonderful start to the new year. --------By Michael Diamond