Quiet Goodbye By Lisa Pressman

 

Quiet Goodbye

By

Lisa Pressman

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

It is a real pleasure to review this new album from Lisa Pressman entitled Quiet Goodbye, this has to be one of the most ambient and calming solo piano albums I have listened to in years. Pressman has a way with the piano; it is an extension not only of her own body, but of her heart and soul too, and on this brand new offering there are ten blissful compositions to confirm that statement.

The opener for me was outstanding; Painting Water is a gentle repose into solo piano that instantly brings serenity and calm with its sparkling tranquil presentation, one which literally allows you to float on a bed of rich tones. However the following musical narrative that became my personal favourite off the album would be next.

A Drink From A Waterfall has within a mood that makes me feel contented and relaxed, this is over six minutes of some of the best piano your ever likely to hear, a meditative sense can be found here too, but one laid between a soft bed of reflection and happy memories of good times past, I could truly imagine myself sitting by a small waterfall, feeling the cascade of the mountain stream splash on my face, and feeling the warming sun on my soul, this is a veritable sanctuary of a composition.

With the tenderness of pieces like the title track Quiet Goodbye, a piece bathed in sensitive emotions, Willow, a song that moves like the branches of an old tree, one that has watched the rivers flow for an eternity, and the penultimate offering So Long Ago, a track that contains an almost haunting melody and energy about its construction, one cannot doubt that here lays an album of outstanding natural beauty.

The release is concluded by the arrangement called Awaken to a Dream, and this last delightful repose into a fantasy like state, is absolutely the best way to leave such a beautiful album.

Quiet Goodbye by Lisa Pressman has so far been one of the finest solo piano albums I have listened to this year; there is sensitive tenderness of touch and a reflective construction here that is utterly sublime and very easy to listen to. Quiet Goodbye by Lisa Pressman is one of those albums that will drift into the open heart of the listener, set up home and never want to leave, and it shouldn’t, for this could with ease, be a musical home of sorts, and certainly a panacea that cures all ills, as music always does of course.