By
Dan Bilawsky
Pianist
Eric Muhler, who resides on the West Coast, has a great deal of variety
in his musical background. Rock, small group jazz, film score work,
solo piano and work in the world of dance, accompanying dancers, all
inform his piano playing. His new CD, Something New, plays off of
the old adage that a bride should have something old, new, borrowed
and blue. These words are listed, as a subtitle of sorts, on the album
cover.
The album
begins with "Something Old (What's The Woogie?)" and a vague
and mysterious musical picture is the first thing we hear. Little
by little things take shape in a much more blues-informed style of
piano playing. While this piece has a driving rhythm that controls
things and moves the music along, Muhler also takes the opportunity
to mix some interesting harmonies, lyrical lines and boogiewoogie
influenced licks into his playing.
While
the "old," "new" and "blue" references
in the with Muhler originals, it is safe to assume that "borrowed"
refers to the four classic pieces that the pianist mixes into the
album. "God Bless The Child," often taken at a very mild
tempo, is treated to a slightly more spirited rendition from Muhler.
The pianist isn't afraid to use the theme as a springboard for some
interesting melodic excursions and he holds onto the spirit of the
song throughout. "Sweet Dreams" has a solid groove and a
highly accessible and appealing sound, buoyed by the logic and sound
of Muhler's left hand line and the more melodious right hand work.
Cole Porter's "All of You" benefits from Muhler's mixture
of Spanish-tinged sounds and lines that, typifying Cole Porter's compositional
spirit, stay closer to many other versions of this song.
As a
young child might be prone to do in the situation indicated by the
title, Muhler's piano lines seem to explore, search and seek out new,
mystical lands during "Young Boy In The Big Woods." Boogie-woogie,
blues, soul, swing and ragtime have a head-on collision during Muhler's
run through "The Preacher" by Horace Silver and the result
is a highly enjoyable rendition of this song. While parts of "Something
New" have a dark and dangerous sound, one can sense that Muhler's
scoring background likely had some impact on the rippling, waving,
New-Age-ish lines that make up a good part of this song.
"Sunny
Muslin," one of the most absorbing Muhler pieces on the album,
is a true exercise in tension building and suspense. Muhler slowly
lets the music snowball and, at the height of the piece, the pianist
plays some inspired McCoy Tyner-esque clusters that gnaw at your musical
soul. While he certainly took his time building to a climax, Muhler
is able to easily dissolve the tension, coax you into a comfort zone
and then toy with the tension again as things gain steam and then
die down to conclude this piece.
After
the pianist winds his way through "Bluesette," the last
of four "borrowed" compositions on the album, he gets to
his own "Something Blue." This piece is a standard twelve-bar
blues that gives Muhler the opportunity to launch into some raunchy
and raucous riffs that would have seemed out of place on some of the
other material, but are right at home on this tune.
"Nicole
Caterina" begins with a soft, sweet, sweeping sound, resides
in this musical area for a while, builds up to a more forceful sound
and ends up in a musically peaceful place. "Travelin' Light"
mixes rock and jazz and features some great licks over a repetitive
left hand bass line, creating an energetic piece that has some Vince
Guaraldi-like traits to it. During the final minutes of this piece,
which concludes this live solo piano recording, Muhler begins to unravel
the musical fabric of this song and brings things to a quiet conclusion.
