Contains:
"En Face Du Miroir (Facing The Mirror)"
- taken from the Isadar solo piano complete collection, "Red" (also available on SMP)

Sounds like: Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, Liz Story, George Winston, early Windham Hill solo piano artists

Transcribed by: David Shenton ( https://www.shentonmusic.com/ ) verbatim to the sound recording

Album & Songbook Review by: Kathy Parsons

Red is pianist/composer Isadar?s genre-defying tenth solo piano album and seventeenth independent release from the past twenty years. It is also the third installment in a trilogy of solo piano albums released in the past year - Reconstructed, a Will Ackerman-produced anthology of some of Isadar?s best piano pieces; O Christmas, Isadar?s second piano Christmas album; and now Red, a bittersweet love-themed album that took seven years to produce and that consists of the first new original solo piano material Isadar has released in more than ten years.

I have been reviewing and thoroughly enjoying Isadar?s releases since his second piano album, 1999?s Active Imagination, which still stands as one of my favorite recordings. Even though I have been a big fan for many years, I was still blown away by Isadar?s live performance in my house concert series in July 2010. The man has magic fingers and an extraordinary piano touch that are perfectly suited to express his imaginative, distinctive, and emotionally powerful music.

Isadar is also a singer/songwriter and an electronic musician who creates the music videos for much of his music, dramatizing the stories that inspired the songs. I will always be partial to Isadar?s piano albums because his voice and vision are unique, incorporating jazz, new age, pop, and classical stylings into a musical language all his own.

Red opens with ?Broken Valentine,? a free-flowing expression of heartbreak and the broad range of emotions that go with it, alternating between grief and confusion then shifting to perhaps anger and resignation - a great beginning. The title track conveys the freedom of an improvisation while weaving together a variety of upbeat themes. ?The Man Who Broke My Heart? is energetic and in constant swirling motion - also very free and from deep within. ?The Stairwell? is darker and much more mysterious, overflowing with Isadar?s intriguing accented rhythms and picturesque compositional style. My favorite track is the almost nine-minute ?Letting Go,? a piece that intertwines a series of musical vignettes into a powerful, colorful musical collage. I love the way Isadar seamlessly goes from flowing and smooth to a bouncy jazz style to high drama without missing a beat. Great stuff! ?En Face Du Miroir (Facing the Mirror)? is much lighter, with fingers dancing nimbly around the piano keyboard. The album closes with ?Blood ... Thicker Than Water,? again a combination of changing themes that could well be a musical family portrait - different personalities working separately and as a unit, bound together by the unseen ties that keep families together through thick and thin.

Isadar has created another piano masterpiece that should be more widely heard than his previous releases due to the success of Reconstructed. I hope so, anyway! Red is available from isadar.com, Amazon, iTunes, and CD Baby. Very highly recommended!

Isadar?s Red: Solo Piano Sheet Music Collection is a note-for-note transcription of all seven pieces from Isadar?s 2013 CD/download release by the same name. The music was transcribed by David Shenton (shentonmusic.com) with clear, concise notation that includes dynamics, pedaling and metronome settings.

Isadar is an amazing pianist with a style all his own, so this isn?t a book that most pianists will be able to just sit down and play. It will take some work and attention to detail to get this music right, but it will be well worth the effort. Having the recording for handy reference would be a big help.

Rhythms are often complex and syncopated, but are usually repeated within each piece, so once you have them, the rest will follow fairly easily. There are only a few chords with a reach of more than an octave and none of the key signatures are terribly difficult. The layout and spacing of the music is excellent, and the paper stock is a bright white 9?x12? format with a stapled binding.

If you enjoy listening to Isadar?s music, I?m sure you will enjoy playing it, too! This songbook is available from isadar.com. Recommended!

The songs with their key signatures and the number of pages is listed below:

Broken Valentine - C minor (3 flats) - 4 pages
Red - A minor (0 sharps or flats) - 5 pages
The Man Who Broke My Heart - A minor - 6 pages
The Stairwell - F# minor (3 sharps) - 7 pages
Letting Go - F minor (4 flats) / C minor (3 flats) - 8 pages
En Face Du Miroir (Facing the Mirror) - Ab (4 flats) / F minor/ Bb minor (5 flats) / Db (5 flats) - 7 pages
Blood ... Thicker Than Water - A Minor/ C (0) / F (1 flat) - 7 pages

Isadar is an artist on both Enlightened Piano Radio & Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, the latter featuring some of today's biggest names in solo piano music, including Ludovico Einaudi, David Nevue, Brian Crain, Kevin Kern, Robin Spielberg, Michele McLaughlin, Philip Wesley and over 300 more...

Also available as sheet music in physical songbooks, digital downloads, as well as software for Yamaha Disklavier player-pianos.

For more information, visit his website at: http://www.isadar.com

Sounds like: Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, Liz Story's "The Gift", George Winston's "December", early Windham Hill solo piano artists, and "A Winter's Solstice" compilations.


Transcribed by: David Shenton ( https://www.shentonmusic.com/ ) verbatim to the sound recording

Contents:
1. Bring A Torch (Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella)
2. Children Go Where I Send Thee / The Holly & The Ivy
3. Star Of Wonder (We Three Kings of Orient Are)
4. Silent (Silent Night, Holy Night)
5. Midnight (It Came Upon the Midnight Clear)
6. What Child Is This?
7. Greensleeves (homage to Liz Story)
8. Three Ships (I Saw Three Ships, Come Sailing In)
9. The Coventry Carol (Lully, Lulla, Lullay)
10. Sing We Now Of Christmas (No�l Nouvelet)
11. Carol Of The Bells

Album & Songbook review by: Kathy Parsons (MainlyPiano.com):

I have discovered a real wealth of great solo piano Christmas CDs this year! Isadar?s In Search For the Meaning of Christmas definitely falls into this category! Thoughtful, introspective, and a bit moody, Isadar?s arrangements are true to the carols (with some small melody changes in ?Bring a Torch? and ?Carol of the Bells? that bother me just a little) and still seem very personal. ?Bring a Torch?, ?The Holly and the Ivy?, and ?I Saw Three Ships? are given a lighthearted, joyful treatment. ?Star of Wonder (We Three Kings)?, ?What Child Is This??, ?The Coventry Carol?, and ?Sing We Now of Christmas? are all minor, somber, reverent pieces, and all four are given loving arrangements that keep the dark, mysterious nature of the songs and reflect Isadar?s own sensibilities. ?Carol of the Bells? and Isadar's take on Liz Story?s arrangement of ?Greensleeves? are energetic without losing all abandon. ?Silent Night? and ?It Came Upon a Midnight Clear? present us with a very cold, deep solitude - both feel like late night with moonlight reflecting off the snow. Both are moody, but very beautifully so. George Winston?s ?December? is one of my all-time favorite holiday albums, and I feel In Search For the Meaning of Christmas holds up exceptionally well next to it. This is an excellent collection of Christmas music, and I highly recommend it!

In Search For the Meaning of Christmas is the companion songbook to Isadar?s 1999 solo piano release by the same name. Meticulously transcribed note-for-note by David Shenton of New York Music Publishing, the music is faithful to the recording in every way (except for the pianist - YOU!). The scores are clear, concise, and easy to read, and also include chord indications for improvisation or the use of instruments other than or in addition to the piano. Isadar?s arrangements cover a whole range of emotions, from very dark and somber to joyful and buoyant. All of the pieces from the CD are here, including Isadar?s homage to Liz Story and her beautiful version of ?Greensleeves.? My personal favorites of the eleven songs in this book are the bright and cheerful ?Bring A Torch,? ?What Child Is This??, ?Greensleeves,? the darkly gorgeous ?The Coventry Carol,? and ?Sing We Now of Christmas.? Other titles that I really like are ?Children Go Where I Send Thee/The Holly and the Ivy,? ?Star of Wonder (We Three Kings)," ?Carol of the Bells,? and the effervescent ?Three Ships.? ?Silent? (Silent Night) and ?Midnight? (It Came Upon a Midnight Clear) are a bit too dark for my own holiday tastes, but are interesting and very personal arrangements. This book will make a great addition to your holiday sheet music collection and is available from isadar.com and amazon.com.

Isadar is an artist on both Enlightened Piano Radio & Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, the latter featuring some of today's biggest names in solo piano music, including Ludovico Einaudi, David Nevue, Brian Crain, Kevin Kern, Robin Spielberg, Michele McLaughlin, Philip Wesley and over 300 more...

Also available as sheet music in physical songbooks, digital downloads, as well as software for Yamaha Disklavier player-pianos.

For more information, visit his website at: http://www.isadar.com

Contains:
"Carol Of The Bells"
- taken from the Isadar solo piano collection, "In Search For The Meaning Of Christmas"

Sounds like: Liz Story, George Winston, early Windham Hill solo piano artists, "A Winter's Solstice" compilations.

Transcribed by: David Shenton ( https://www.shentonmusic.com/ ) verbatim to the sound recording

Album & Songbook review by: Kathy Parsons (MainlyPiano.com):

I have discovered a real wealth of great solo piano Christmas CDs this year! Isadar?s In Search For the Meaning of Christmas definitely falls into this category! Thoughtful, introspective, and a bit moody, Isadar?s arrangements are true to the carols (with some small melody changes in ?Bring a Torch? and ?Carol of the Bells? that bother me just a little) and still seem very personal. ?Bring a Torch?, ?The Holly and the Ivy?, and ?I Saw Three Ships? are given a lighthearted, joyful treatment. ?Star of Wonder (We Three Kings)?, ?What Child Is This??, ?The Coventry Carol?, and ?Sing We Now of Christmas? are all minor, somber, reverent pieces, and all four are given loving arrangements that keep the dark, mysterious nature of the songs and reflect Isadar?s own sensibilities. ?Carol of the Bells? and Isadar's take on Liz Story?s arrangement of ?Greensleeves? are energetic without losing all abandon. ?Silent Night? and ?It Came Upon a Midnight Clear? present us with a very cold, deep solitude - both feel like late night with moonlight reflecting off the snow. Both are moody, but very beautifully so. George Winston?s ?December? is one of my all-time favorite holiday albums, and I feel In Search For the Meaning of Christmas holds up exceptionally well next to it. This is an excellent collection of Christmas music, and I highly recommend it!

In Search For the Meaning of Christmas is the companion songbook to Isadar?s 1999 solo piano release by the same name. Meticulously transcribed note-for-note by David Shenton of New York Music Publishing, the music is faithful to the recording in every way (except for the pianist - YOU!). The scores are clear, concise, and easy to read, and also include chord indications for improvisation or the use of instruments other than or in addition to the piano. Isadar?s arrangements cover a whole range of emotions, from very dark and somber to joyful and buoyant. All of the pieces from the CD are here, including Isadar?s homage to Liz Story and her beautiful version of ?Greensleeves.? My personal favorites of the eleven songs in this book are the bright and cheerful ?Bring A Torch,? ?What Child Is This??, ?Greensleeves,? the darkly gorgeous ?The Coventry Carol,? and ?Sing We Now of Christmas.? Other titles that I really like are ?Children Go Where I Send Thee/The Holly and the Ivy,? ?Star of Wonder (We Three Kings)," ?Carol of the Bells,? and the effervescent ?Three Ships.? ?Silent? (Silent Night) and ?Midnight? (It Came Upon a Midnight Clear) are a bit too dark for my own holiday tastes, but are interesting and very personal arrangements. This book will make a great addition to your holiday sheet music collection and is available from isadar.com and amazon.com.

Isadar is an artist on both Enlightened Piano Radio & Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, the latter featuring some of today's biggest names in solo piano music, including Ludovico Einaudi, David Nevue, Brian Crain, Kevin Kern, Robin Spielberg, Michele McLaughlin, Philip Wesley and over 300 more...

Also available as sheet music in physical songbooks, digital downloads, as well as software for Yamaha Disklavier player-pianos.

Healing Hearts 3
Louis Landon
2016 / Landon Creative, Inc.
63 minutes
Review by Kathy Parsons
Louis Landon?s Healing Hearts 3 is the third in a series of solo piano albums that are comprised of improvisations that were created while clients were in session at his Healing Piano of Sedona (AZ). These sixty-minute healing and music sessions consist of forty minutes of mentoring and twenty minutes of music that includes personalized music for the client?s own use. Landon created Healing Piano of Sedona several years ago to help people live life joyously, passionately, and stress- and disease-free. Landon is a Steinway Artist who has been a life-long musician. Healing Hearts 3 is his twenty-first album and fourteenth solo piano collection. Each of the thirteen pieces on the album was inspired by a different ?soul journey,? so the music is quite varied although it maintains a very calming and peaceful vibe throughout.

It is interesting to note that Healing Hearts 3 has the closest to the ideal sound Landon has been looking for on his recordings. He attributes that achievement to the mastering and editing expertise of Joe Bongiorno of Piano Haven Studio, also in Sedona. Landon has been trying to get the sound of a classical concert hall in his Peace Palace studio recordings and this album definitely has that sound, which is exceptionally beautiful - clear, warm and resonant.

Healing Hearts 3 begins with ?Standing In the Light,? a softly flowing piece with a poignant melody that gently soothes the heart - a favorite. ?Heart Song? is hushed, intimate and obviously very personal. ?Triumph of the Soul? starts out in the deep bass of the piano - very dark and lost. As the piece evolves, it gradually lightens as it moves up the piano keyboard, ending in a very positive place. I?ve often said that the piano is the best instrument to express the sound and feeling of rain and ?Night Rain? proves that point again. More energetic than most of the other tracks, the notes flow freely: sometimes smoothly and evenly, sometimes more percussive like big fat raindrops - love it! ?Tears? is heartbreak set to music, although tears are so often a big part of the healing process. Such deep emotion is expressed in this piece! Landon wisely follows sadness with ?Happy Man,? a lively slice of pianistic sunshine. ?Phoenix Rising? begins in the deep bass of the piano, obviously signifying a very dark place or crisis. Over the course of the composition, there is turmoil and pain, but then Landon gradually moves the piece into the upper end of the piano to a much lighter and more peaceful place - a stunning piece! ?Healing Time? is gently uplifting and so soothing and serene that I can actually feel it melting away tension - another favorite. ?Music Runs Through Me? flows quickly like a stream with sparkles of sunlight dancing happily on its surface. ?Balance? returns to a calm stillness that comes when things/life are in balance. Slow, lyrical and very peaceful, it?s the perfect closing for another great album from Louis Landon!

I have thoroughly enjoyed all three Healing Hearts albums, but I think #3 is my favorite. It is available from LouisLandon.com, Amazon, iTunes and CD Baby. Very highly recommended!
November 4, 2016

Recorded at The Peace Palace, Sedona, AZ, from November 2015 to February 2016. on a Steinway B.

Music mastering: Joe Bongiorno at Piano Haven Studio, Sedona, AZ



Louis Landon is a composer and Steinway artist. Formerly of New York and currently living in Sedona, Arizona, Louis has dedicated his life to music. His career has taken him around the world playing a variety of styles with some of the most recognized names in the entertainment industry. He toured nationally and internationally, playing classical music for Mikhail Baryshnikov; jazz fusion with The John Payne Band; Latin music with "Pucho and his Latin Soul Brothers?; pop music with Rupert "Pina Colada Song" Holmes; and rock & roll with John Hall, opening for "Little Feat?.

Louis began playing the piano by ear at 4 years old and began lessons at 5. As a teenager, he played guitar and keyboard in bands and went on to study music at Stony Brook University, Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music.

For the past 30 years, through his production company, Landon Music Company, Louis has written and produced music for film, video, and commercials. He recorded his first original album, Love Songs & Jazz, in 1994 and has since released 38 Albums/CDs on the LCI Record label. His latest, entitled Provocative Piano, was released on January 29, 2021. He has just finished up yet another solo piano album, Nighttime Piano for Relaxation and Deep Sleep, with a release date of April 23, 2021.

Louis Landon mission:

To create a more compassionate world by writing, recording and performing music that inspires love, peace, joy and gratitude.

Reviews:

?While some pianists are virtuosos in their playing and others may not be as technically proficient, but have great emotional content in their music, Louis Landon brings it all together with impeccable style and grace. His work covers diverse compositional terrain, incorporating influences of classical, new age, jazz, pop, and more in a mellifluous spectrum of moods and musical colors.? Michaeldiamondmusic.com

"He has a gift for composition that is second to none." Zone Music Reporter

"? indeed meditative and mellow, [he] sacrifices no musical rigor to achieve those ends. With backgrounds in jazz, Latin music, rock, pop, film composing, and classical piano, Louis brings his breadth and depth of experience to bear here. His playing and compositions are sensitive as they are complex and? a diverse range of influences is more than apparent.? Keyboard Magazine

Recognition:

Louis Landon's music has had over 140 million streams on Pandora radio!

Louis Landon's music has had over 34 million streams on Spotify!

Thanksgiving Piano was nominated for Album of the Year 2020 by Whisperings Radio.

Departure - Solo Piano was nominated for Album of the Year 2017 by Whisperings Radio.

Healing Hearts 2 - Solo Piano won 2016 ?Contemporary and Modern? Album of the Year at solo piano.com and was nominated for Album of the Year at Enlightened Piano Radio, also in 2016.

Healing Hearts - Solo Piano was nominated for Album of the Year at Whisperings Radio 2015.

Solo Piano for Love, Peace & Mermaids was nominated for Album of the Year at Whisperings Radio 2010.

Solo Piano for Peace was nominated for the 2009 ZMR Music Awards in three categories: Album of the Year, Best Instrumental Album - piano, and Best Cover Art by Zone Music Reporter. Solo Piano for Peace was listed at #30 of the top 100 albums for airplay in 2009 by Zone Music Reporter.

Peace Revolution! was Louis Landon's 7th CD and 2nd solo piano CD. It was #7 on the NAR top 100 charts and was played on over 50 stations worldwide.

unwind charted at #3 of the top 100 cds for the month of February, 2006 on Zone Music Reporter's website, playing on over 121 stations internationally.

Visit LouisLandon.com for bookings, CDs, sheet music, contact info and more.