Yaron Herman – Alma (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

With his new album, pianist Yaron Herman breaks completely new ground. Having already released ten albums, he drops into the void and offers for the first time a body of completely improvised music – a startling snapshot and a vivid mirror of his past

The piano thus becomes the focus of broader reflection, a companion that helps unravel the mysteries of the world.

Yaron Herman is never where you expect him to be. He’s recently made a remarkable return to the traditional acoustic trio format (Songs of Degrees in 2019) and rediscovered the joys of interplay through two albums (Everyday, Y) through which the pianist made a conscious effort to open up to other musical aesthetics. However, this new record presents him in the studio, alone at the piano with no safety net, no preparation and no predefined concept. He resolutely plunges into his music sixteen years after his first solo album (Variations, 2006), exploring an array of styles that his listeners won’t be accustomed to hearing him play.

In this minimalistic context, Yaron Herman surprises with this deliberately understated music. It’s characterised by a certain gentleness, unfolding its ever-changing and nuanced moods according to his frequently renewing inspiration. Intuitively passing from spontaneous, free improvisations to the more standard (and here, masterfully deconstructed) ‘All the Things You Are’; from pieces borrowed from Israeli popular music (‘Yesh Li Sikuy’ by Eviatar Banar) to a very moving reading of Gabriel Fauré’s ‘Après un rêve’, Yaron Herman offers up a brand of impressionist music that is overtly melancholic but always lyrical, projecting an inexhaustible melodic imagination. – Stéphane Ollivier

Tracklist:
1-1. Yaron Herman – Forever Unfolding (04:11)
1-2. Yaron Herman – Cards (02:23)
1-3. Yaron Herman – Rituel (03:09)
1-4. Yaron Herman – Magnolia (03:20)
1-5. Yaron Herman – Little Melody (03:42)
1-6. Yaron Herman – Tone Field (03:15)
1-7. Yaron Herman – Here and Now (03:00)
1-8. Yaron Herman – Ode to Nearness (05:12)
1-9. Yaron Herman – Round Blue (02:09)
1-10. Yaron Herman – Silver Lining (02:45)
1-11. Yaron Herman – All the Things You Are (01:32)
1-12. Yaron Herman – Yesh Li Sikuy (04:45)
1-13. Yaron Herman – Playground (02:15)
1-14. Yaron Herman – Après un rêve (07:41)
1-15. Yaron Herman – How Dares a Star (Eich Ze Shekochav) (04:16)
1-16. Yaron Herman – Rebirth (02:59)
1-17. Yaron Herman – Song Without Words (03:20)