Larry Goldings: In My Room

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Jacob Collier (v, p, g, b, d and more)

Label:

Qwest Records

July/2016

RecordDate:

date not stated

Some albums change the world, some change your mind, and others stay close to your heart, like a love letter. And this is one of those. In mood and concept, In My Room resonates with Keith Jarrett's The Melody At Night, With You. But where Jarrett is intimate, pulling down the blinds and shutting out the world, Goldings is always sociable even when playing his close miked solos. Yes, this is private music that doubtless has personal connections for Goldings. But this is also piano playing that if you heard it down the hall, you'd knock on the door and ask to be let in to listen. And Goldings would say ‘Come on in!’ It's summed up by his take on ‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game’. On one level its affectionate, gentle, nostalgic but not sentimental; but it's also parlour music in the best sense: it's an “all-back-to-my-place version” that you want to gather round the Joanna with and raise a glass to. But Goldings can also break your heart: the nakedness of Joni Mitchell's ‘All I Want’ slices through to the heart, but again without cloying. Prepared piano interludes also break up the mood, and in choosing so eclectically (The Beatles, Rod Argent and Abdullah Ibrahim rub melodic shoulders), there's plenty of colour changes to keep you coming back for more. As Goldings notes, the lack of standards may cause purists to sniff, but that's their loss. In My Room is anything but standard. Right, let's put it on again.

Follow us

Jazzwise Print

  • Latest print issues

From £5.83 / month

Subscribe

Jazzwise Digital Club

  • Latest digital issues
  • Digital archive since 1997
  • Download tracks from bonus compilation albums during the year
  • Reviews Database access

From £7.42 / month

Subscribe

Subscribe from only £5.83

Never miss an issue of the UK's biggest selling jazz magazine.

Subscribe

View the Current
Issue

Take a peek inside the latest issue of Jazzwise magazine.

Find out more