Song List: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God Amazing Grace America, the Beautiful Ave Maria Away in a Manger Be Still, My Soul Be Thou My Vision Children of the Heavenly Father Christ the Lord Is Risen Today Come, Thou Almighty King Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing Crown Him with Many Crowns Down to the River to Pray Every Time I Feel the Spirit Fairest Lord Jesus Faith of Our Fathers For All the Saints For the Beauty of the Earth Good King Wenceslas Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken Great Is Thy Faithfulness He's Got the Whole World in His Hands His Eye Is on the Sparrow How Great Thou Art I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley Joy to the World! Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee Let All Things Now Living Let Us Break Bread Together Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ Lift High the Cross Lord of the Dance Love Divine, All Loves Excelling Morning Has Broken My Country, 'Tis of Thee My Jesus, I Love Thee Nearer, My God, to Thee O Little Town of Bethlehem O Perfect Love O Sacred Head, Now Wounded Peace Like a River Praise to the Lord, the Almighty Put Peace into Each Other's hands Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us Silent Night Softly and Tenderly Sweet Hour of Prayer Swing Low, Sweet Chariot The Gift of Love The Solid Rock To God Be the Glory We Gather Together Were You There We Shall Overcome We Three Kings What Child Is This What a Friend We Have in Jesus What Wondrous Love Is This When the Saints Go Marching In

Healing Hearts 2
Louis Landon
2015 / Landon Creative
66 minutes
Review by Kathy Parsons
Louis Landon continues to soar on the wings of an amazingly creative period - now going on several years! Healing Hearts 2 is the follow-up to Healing Hearts, which was released the end of 2014 and is nominated for Album of the Year on Whisperings Solo Piano Radio. This is Landon?s second album for 2015 and he?s already working on his first release for 2016! The fourteen tracks on Healing Hearts 2 were gathered from improvisations created during sessions at Landon?s Healing Piano of Sedona (AZ), so the piano solos are very smooth and soothing - probably the most relaxed and relaxing album of Landon?s career. Recorded on a Steinway B grand piano at The Peace Palace in Sedona and mastered by Joe Bongiorno at Piano Haven, also in Sedona, the piano sound is impeccable - very warm and enveloping. Landon told me that this is the best music he never wrote, referring to the fact that the music just flows out of him during these sessions, reflective of each client?s wants and needs at the time of the session.

The full Healing Hearts 2 album is a little more than an hour of quietly uplifting music and works exceptionally well as a relaxing and healing experience. I?d like to mention a few favorite pieces, though. The album begins with ?Sisters,? a very gentle piece that expresses the love and special bond that can exist between sisters. Very light and free, it?s a beautiful start. ?Free At Last? starts out almost mournfully - dark and searching - gradually becoming livelier and more optimistic. It?s an amazing musical journey and development! ?Relax and Enjoy? expresses the warm comfort of just letting go and ?being? for awhile - leisurely and contented. ?Feeling the Love? is so warm and open that it feels like a musical embrace - melodic yet very free. ?All Is Well? is almost ambient, but what a wonderful atmosphere of quiet contentment it creates - a perfect peace. ?Transition? is like floating on a cloud - effortless and so peaceful. ?Dark Nights? is one of the most beautiful pieces Landon has recorded. It reminds me a little bit of Beethoven?s ?Moonlight Sonata? and some of Chopin?s Nocturnes - so poignant and heartfelt that it takes my breath away. The gracefully flowing ?Dancer? expresses freedom and elegant movement. ?Lullaby? closes this excellent album with a piece so soothing it could melt the tension out of anyone. Gorgeous!

If you are looking for music that will relax and refresh your inner being, you need to look no further than Healing Hearts 2. This is the real deal when it comes to soothing piano music with substance and heart. It is available from louislandon.com, Amazon, iTunes, and CD Baby. Highly recommended!
November 1, 2015

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.

Contains:
"Greensleeves 2012"
- taken from the Isadar solo piano collection, "O Christmas" (also available on SMP)

Sounds like: Vince Guaraldi's "A Charlie Brown Christmas," Liz Story's "The Gift," George Winston's "December," legacy Windham Hill solo piano artists, "A Winter's Solstice" compilations.

Note: ?Greensleeves 2012? is a revisited and evolved arrangement which like my earlier version, was inspired by ? and also pays ?homage? to ? Liz Story?s brilliant take on this timeless piece.

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

Album review by: Michael Diamond (http://michaeldiamondmusic.com):

Fresh on the heels of his highly acclaimed chart-topping CD, Reconstructed, Isadar gifts us with a sparkling new album of holiday-themed instrumental music for solo piano, entitled ?O Christmas.? Given the proximity to his recent release, one might assume that this one was quickly produced, but in reality O Christmas has been 7 years in the making. Various circumstances including other recording projects, a segue into the field of video production, and a cross country move from NYC to the west coast and later back again, created delays with the completion of the album. But as they say, ?good things come to those who wait.?
One of the most interesting things about this album is the fact that the selections are traditional Christmas songs, yet some were chosen because they are less well known, or ?off the beaten path? as Isadar characterizes them. This follows the pattern set by his 1999 Christmas album ?In Search For The Meaning Of Christmas,? yet this new CD mines even deeper in its quest for interesting and unusual choices.

The album begins with a track called ?Good Christian Men.? Steeped in history, the song dates back to 14th century Germany and its Latin title was originally ?In Dulci Jubilo? before it was translated into English in the 1800?s. Isadar?s interpretation creates a lively and festive air that makes a perfect portal to the recording. The high-spirited mood continues on the next song, ?Teddy Bears Picnic,? which although not technically a Christmas song, has been interwoven by Isadar with ?March Of The Toys? to tie it in with the holidays ? a clever arrangement of these intriguing melodies. One of the more well-known carols on the album is ?O Christmas Tree? and is sure to have listeners humming along with it?s familiar refrain.

A track entitled ?Still? is an innovative rendition of the classic ?Still, Still, Still? which Isadar has put his own spin on, or as he jokingly puts it ?jazzed up shamelessly.? No such liberties were taken on the classic ?O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,? however. This song provides a showcase for Isadar?s accomplished grand piano work, featuring lush left hand arpeggios creating a strong foundation for his more delicate right hand melodies to dance upon ? a powerful and moving combination. Another of the less well known, yet equally inspiring tunes is a Puerto Rican carol entitled ?Song Of The Wise Men.? It has been said that: ?Christmas is, above all, a children?s holiday, and many hymns are addressed to children, reminding them that the real reason for the sugarplums and Christmas trees is the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child.? This theme is well reflected in Isadar?s choice of ?O Come Little Children,? based on a carol from the 1800?s.

Among my favorite tracks on the album are the wistful strains of ?Greensleeves 2012,? which Isadar interprets with elegance and grandeur and also pays ?homage? to Liz Story?s brilliant take on this enduring composition. This is followed by a rendition of ?Masters In This Hall,? which can best be described as, well? ?masterful.? The song dates back to the sixteenth century, and is another of the less well-known tunes that Isadar has chosen to feature. The album draws to a close with Isadar invoking artistic license on what is perhaps one of the most unique and liberal versions of a classic carol heard here yet. Based on ?We Wish You A Merry Christmas,? Isadar characterizes it as ?an uninhibited melancholy arrangement.? While I don?t know if ?melancholy? is the word I would use to describe it, it does have a pensive quality and is presented more as a nocturne than usual lively carol it is known as. I really liked the interpretation and respect Isadar?s creativity and distinctive rendering of the song.

?O Christmas? is an exceptional holiday collection, not only for Isadar?s elegant grand piano artistry, but as well for the interesting and sometimes unexpected repertoire contained within. Like ornaments on a tree, the songs adorn the album, enhancing its beauty with their diversity, individuality, and timelessness. Given the well-deserved accolades and popularity of Isadar?s distinctive piano style, I?m sure that fans will want to include ?O Christmas? in their collection and make it a part of their holiday tradition.