Instrumental Piano Review: Michele McLaughlin- Memoirs

Release Date: May 24, 2019

Label: Independent

Website

Memoirs will be the fourth album I have had the opportunity to enjoy by pianist Michele McLaughlin. Her reputation in the music community is a stellar one and with the latest release, that kind of positive support and feedback will continue to grow.

The first track is a powerful musical statement. Michele works hard to relay a message to her listeners on “Thankful” You can actually feel the word expressed in the music. Without the human voice to express itself, there are many other ways to do so, particularly through the arts that are visual and audible. 

Talented piano players like Michele take a blank canvas and let their emotions and spirits flow through the ivory keys. I am continually amazed at how beautiful and meaningful this instrumental music can be. Michele is one of those players that gets your attention and holds it with a variety of tempos and rhythms.

One of the more breathtaking tracks in “Northern Lights.” Her playing is exemplary. The pace at which she hits the keys is incredibly fast then within the blink of an eye she changes the entire track into a softer melodious passage then it closes out with an attention-getting deep bass tone. To really appreciate such complex piano playing you have to pay attention to all the layers of music being created and the varying tempos that allow it to change so fast. The transitions Michele makes in her music can be quite a display of technical and innate sense of musicality.

So once again, the brilliance of Michele McLaughlin comes shining through her music with energy, poignancy, grace, and beauty. At times all of those elements are combined to give you a wall of sound that is difficult to imagine with one piano. She does it all with tastefulness and precision on Memoirs.

Memoirs is another triumph for Michele McLaughlin and she has set the bar another notch higher for her contemporaries.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck

June 20, 2019

Founder of:

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Tracks: 
01. Thankful
02. Pure Joy
03. Dark Moon
04. Triumph
05. Little Love
06. My Life with You
07. Beneath the Surface
08. Alone
09. Winter
10. Northern Lights
11. Peace
12. Dismissed