Gonzales

 Solo Piano has Gonzales, a Canadian-born musician whose past résumé includes production work for Feist and Peaches, as well as his own electronic albums, sitting alone, meditating over his piano. It's almost a set of études. They sound like they could be sketches, with only a few hours practice on each, but the numbers all have a definite form. It's not jazz, and it's not classical, but it is undeniably romantic. Taking cues from French pianists Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel, as well as Keith Jarrett's solo concerts, Gonzales's Solo Piano is warm and slightly eerie. There are echoes of silent film scores, and Gonzales even says it himself in his mildly arty liner-notes statement: “Although they say the piano can create the most colors of any instrument, it is actually black and white, much like an old silent movie.” There is no film to accompany this, however, so pour yourself a glass of wine, sit back and conjure your own in your head.