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Cyrille Verdeaux — Piano for the Third Ear
(Clearlight Music C8M-206, 2001, CD)

by Mike Ezzo, Published 2002-04-01

Piano for the Third Ear Cover art

Most people know Verdeaux from his work with Clearlight back in the 70s. He later did some great collaborative albums with Bernard Xolotl in electronic music, during the years before “New Age” became a household word. During the 80s his six-cassette Kundalini Opera was a landmark. Now he is back, living in California, and releasing some reissues, as well as new material. Piano for the Third Ear is the latter, although some of the compositions do stretch back to 1981. I never knew Verdeaux was such an accomplished pianist, but he shows here a talent for the old-fashioned ivories in abundance. I was expecting something really calm and, to be blunt, rather pallid, but I was wrong. Most of these piano solos fall into a Romantic or impressionistic mode, that really shows a gift of melody and acumen with textural variety. Unlike the playful quirkiness of, say, Roedelius, Verdeaux’s brushstrokes are more grand and dramatic. At the beginning you’ll hear echoes of Brahms, or other late Romantic-era composers. Later on the mood switches to something more redolent of Debussy, but with a melodic language of greater simplicity. Many people have big prejudices towards piano music. But criticism such as “It’s all the same” or “You can’t do anything new with it” don’t alter the fact that it’s the musical substance that counts. If the above description interests you then you should have no trouble enjoying Verdeaux’s formidable efforts on this CD.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 24, 2001 releases

Related artist(s): Cyrille Verdeaux

 

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