by
Phillip McNally
Eric
Muhler plays piano solo on Something New. He records on a “10
foot Fazioli” piano in the “Piedmont Performance Space”
in San Francisco. I’m not familiar with either the space or the
instrument, but the piano has great bass depth and response here,
married with a nice warmth and crispness to the upper range of the
keyboard. The sound of the room is vivid and spacious, and reminds
me of the old series of piano recordings from Maybeck Hall. As a musician,
Muhler has a very open harmonic sense, impressionist with lots of
chromatic runs, but tinted with blue notes. At times his work is reminiscent
of Jarrett in his rhythmic sense, with a wilder chromatic palette.
On occasion he can overrun the melody with his chromaticism, losing
the tension of the piece with his length. But all in all, Muhler is
up to the beauty of the instrument he is playing.
