Winds of Change By David J. Peña

 

Winds of Change

By

David J. Peña

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

In such a short space of time David J. Peña has become known as a colourful writer and composer of amazingly picturesque cinematic works that contain added instrumentation and full flowing passionate piano performances. I am delighted to therefore inform you that none of the above has changed, but with this new album Winds Of Change, business as they say, is just about to pick up.

Homecoming starts this most illustrious of journeys off with a fluency and a compositional structure like none before, with string segments that would grace any positive moment in a movie with ease; this is a grand start indeed, and one that is so easy to come back to over and again.

On Awakening we have a continuance of the last tracks energies, a similar tempo guides your way, and manifests a wonderful bright and optimistic day ahead, the added percussion and driving beat are tempered by an amazingly beautiful piano performance by the artist.

The mood of our next offering is so redolent of the subject matter; one could have easily just rolled up, tossed the coat and hat on the rack, and settled down with a coffee in a big old recliner, as The Arrival brings us a blissfully warm and all-encompassing feeling of kindness and comfort; the melody line is creative, and contains an elevated sense of wellbeing within its structures.

Now for something a little moody and reflective, I give you a moment of a thoughtful repose within the offering entitled Remember When. The minor chords and structures are so wonderfully composed and cleverly thought-out, here is a piece that raises the emotions, the memories and those sun kissed segments of time that you thought would never end, but did; an absolutely brilliant track indeed.

The midday point brings a slice of utter mastery. Many of you know I love to use natural sounds especially storms in my own music, and when an artist like David J. Peña does it with such style and panache, it gives me a big old smile of inner happiness, it just so happens that this, our beloved title track, is without doubt the best composition from the album, and in my view maybe Peña’s best ever arrangement so far, it is scenic, moody, and powerful from a depth of sadness and memory. Winds of Change is a classic; it has everything, a midway percussive beat and a string section that just makes the whole piece so emotive and emotionally sublime.

The gentle start to this next piece gives us a thoughtful and also hopeful repose; the track itself is called Someday. This is actually a clever piece, please note the build, progression and elevation within this arrangement, it is outstanding, and could be used as a fine of example of how to do so, with both artistic grace and utter quality.

Another favourite of mine was this one entitled Windy Shadows. The title is evocative on its own, but Peña’s performance is so creative and artistic, that one could easily be watching the shadows of a late autumn afternoon dance with the fading sunlight of a November afternoon. David J. Peña’s creative muse was certainly in full activation mode within this piece.

Willow can be found within the deeper labyrinths of the album, it can be found in a small corner of the castle of creativity marked “Never forget me”. This is a wonderfully passionate offering that literally makes the hairs stand up on your arm as it plays; it also has a delicate quality, almost pristine in its texture.

Wise Men’s Journey is our penultimate composition, it is actually a really mood filled opus of mystery and of moving onward, in a voyage perhaps one did not expect to take. The softer segments manifest a deep colour of potential ahead, and the piano of the artist weaves a tale of things unknown and yet to pass; another masterful performance created by David J. Peña.

Well we are here, our musical boat of tone and tempo has docked, but before you go, we have one last gift for you, and it is called Take Flight, this is indeed a nice way to leave the album and a thoughtful one too from the artist. Peña’s touch on the piano is simply sublime and this one is bathed with feelings of hope and happiness, its energetic musical narrative is simply the perfect way to leave an outstanding album

Winds of Change by David J. Peña in my view is the artist’s best work by far, it has everything you want from an album, a story, a cinematic feel, a sense of hope, reflection and thoughtfulness, and is all wrapped up in one of the most passionate performances you could ever wish to hear from a musician, this is piano with instrumentation at its very best, and one can see big things on the charts for this brand new and sparkling release.