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.

With this sheet music, you can play "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney on piano!

Paul McCartney wrote "Wonderful Christmastime" during the recording sessions for his second studio album, "McCartney II".

The song was released in November 1979, right between "Back to the Egg" (the final album by Paul McCartney and Wings), and the release of his solo album.

"Wonderful Christmastime" became a popular Christmas song, and has been covered by many artists (including Kylie Minogue and Mika).

It makes for a great piano cover, and it's a great song to play during the holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

Contains:
"Throwing The Dice"
- taken from the Isadar solo piano collections, "Active Imagination / Reconstructed" (also available on SMP)

Sounds like: Liz Story's ("Things With Wings"), Philip Aaberg, George Winston, early Windham Hill solo piano artists

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

Note: A slightly different version of this composition is also heard on the Isadar album, "Reconstructed" (Produced by Will Ackerman)

Album & Songbook Review by: Kathy Parsons

I love this CD! It constantly amazes me how many outstanding composer/pianists there are out there - especially in relation to the few who are highly (commercially) successful within this broad genre. I would say that Active Imagination definitely belongs near the top of the heap. Isadar?s style is original, and his pianism is excellent. He lists his inspirations as Liz Story, Keith Jarrett, and Bill Evans, and I can hear traces of all three in his playing, but find his composing and playing styles to be uniquely his own.

The first three tracks are lively and upbeat (?Active Imagination?, ?Throwing the Dice?, and ?Where the Wild Things Are?) with an easy, jazzy, improvised feel. The meter changes are fascinating, and the bluesy beat on ?Wild Things? is infectious.

From there, the mood seems to gradually darken and become more introspective. ?Waiting? is a beautiful, flowing mood piece full of questions and a lovely melody line. Isadar?s cover of Liz Story?s ?Wedding Rain? is wonderful - this is a piece I often work on with my advanced students, and everything about Isadar?s interpretation of the piece seems right without being a carbon-copy of Liz?s recording.

?Feu Follet (the ?spook? light?)? has a nice, easy flow with a strong sense of mystery; it also has an unusual rhythm that lightens the mood and adds a bounce. ?Uncertainty? is cooler and more aloof, but gorgeous in its flowing introspection - that it ends with a major chord, feels like the soul-searching has had positive results. ?Love Chaconne? is the closing track, and is the longest and most abstract piece on the CD. The left hand plays a repeated pattern while the right hand goes off in several different directions (one of the primary characteristics of a ?chaconne?). Beautiful in its simplicity, this is the only track that seems to contain an element of pain and sorrow, but never dissolves into melodrama.

Active Imagination is excellent from start to finish and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes solo piano with substance and complexity, but is still accessible, melodic, and rhythmic. Bravo amundo!

Active Imagination Sheet Music Collection is the companion songbook to Isadar?s 1999 CD release, Active Imagination. The CD was one of my favorites for the year when I reviewed it for the print version of ?Wind and Wire? magazine, so I was really looking forward to the sheet music! Transcribed note-for-note by David Shenton of ShentonMusic.com (I proofed about half of the book, so I can attest to how accurate it is!), it is up to you to make the music sound as close to the CD as you want or to interpret the music and make your own statements with it.

One thing that really stands out about this collection is how much FUN it is to play. The rhythms are interesting and catchy, and the mood in several of the songs is playful and upbeat. This is especially true with the title song, ?Throwing the Dice,? ?Where the Wild Things Are,? and ?Feu Follet (the ?spook? light).? ?Waiting,? ?Love Chaconne,? and ?Uncertainty? are slower, more introspective, and a bit moody, making this a sheet music collection that contains a variety of moods and styles. The only piece missing from the book is Liz Story?s ?Wedding Rain,? but the sheet music for that song is available in some of Ms. Story?s own collections.

Early-advanced players should have no trouble with this music. The timing on some of the songs is a little bit tricky, but if you count it as you are learning it, it will fall into place.

If you haven?t heard the CD, check it out, too! This book is available here from SMP, isadar.com and amazon.com. Highly recommended!

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

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.

Song List: A Balm in Gilead All Hail, King Jesus (Dave Moody) As the Deer (Marty Nystrom) Awesome God/I Exalt Thee (Richard Mullins/Pete Sanchez, Jr.) Emmanuel (Bob Mcgee) Gesu Bambino (Pietro A Yon) Glorify Thy Name (Donna Adkins) God So Loved the World (John Stainer) Grace Greater Than Our Sin (Daniel B Towner) Halle, Halle, Halle Have Thy Own Way, Lord (George C Stebbins) He Has Made Me Glad (Leona Von Brethorst) He Is Exalted (Twila Paris) His Is Lord Here I Am, Lord (Dan Schutte) Holy Ground (Geron Davis) How Excellent Is Thy Name (Dick & Melody Tunney, Paul Smith) Hymn of Promise (Natalie Sleeth) I Exalt Thee/Awesome God (Pete Sanchez, Jr./Richard Mullins) I Surrender All (Winfield S. Weeden) I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked (Geoffrey O'hara) I Will Call Upon the Lord (Michael O'shields) I Wonder As I Wander (John Jacob Niles) I'll Fly Away (Albert E Brumley) In the Garden (C. Austin Miles) Jesus, Name Above All Names (Naida Hearn) Just As I Am (William B Bradbury) Lord, Be Glorified/Sanctuary (Bob Kilpatrick/John Thompson & Randy Scruggs) Morning has Broken Old Friends (William J Gaither & J D Miller) On Eagle's Wings (Michael Joncas) Open Our Eyes, Lord (Bob Cull) Our God Reigns ( Leonard E Smith, Jr.) Pass It On (Kurt Kaiser) Praise the Name of Jesus (Roy Hicks, Jr.) Sanctuary/Lord, Be Glorified (John Thompson & Randy Scruggs/Bob Kilpatrick) Shine, Jesus, Shine (Graham Kendrick) Sing Hallelujah to the Lord (Linda Stassen) This Is the Day (Les Garrett) Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Helen Lemmel) Victory in Jesus (Eugene M Bartlett, Sr) We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise (Kirk Dearman) We Gather Together What A Mighty God We Serve When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder (James M Black) Wonderful Grace of Jesus (Haldor Lillenas) Be Thou My Vision LORD'S PRAYER, THE (ALBERT HAY MALLOTTE) LOVE OF GOD, THE (FREDERICK H LEHMAN) MAJESTY AND GLORY OF YOUR NAME, THE (TOM FETTKE)