Laraaji makes music that sounds absolutely like nothing else. Through releases in past decades on Brian Eno's labels, he's been associated with the electronic music of that pioneer but Laraaji is not what I'd call an electronic artist, nor a minimalist. The music on Sun Piano, the newest Laraaji release, is striking, simple, and affecting. Recorded by Jeff Zeigler in a church in NYC, the compositions here are elegant and understated, attuned to a purity of vision that remains a hallmark of Laraaji's output as a musician.
"Hold on to the Vision" strides forward on a melodic line that feels faintly like a gospel number, while "This Too Shall Pass", with its title, is a more jaunty variation on the same. Elsewhere, "Elevation" marries a yearning piano figure with the sort of momentum that makes this a standout here, even as "Temple of New Light" ambles down a similar path but with a spry energy about it. All of Sun Piano seems to build towards the final two cuts on the record, with "Resonance" and "Embracing Timeless" melding the patterns we've heard throughout the release with a simple, graceful forward motion. These two pieces feel the most familiar here, even as they're played on a piano and not any of the instruments Laraaji has used on other releases. The cuts, like many here, occupy a space pitched somewhere between ambient and jazz forms, and, as anything Laraaji touches does, they linger in the mind and reward a careful listener.
Sun Piano is out now via All Saints Records.