feature photo: Anna Webber
Serving as the keyboardist for popular acts like St. Vincent, Rufus Wainwright, KT Tunstall and Chris Botti would rate as a nice career for most pianists. Rachel Eckroth has too much to express as a solo artist to settle for just that. She’s a singer-songwriter and also a contemporary jazz artist, earning a Grammy nomination for 2021’s The Garden.
For her Spring 2023 entry, however, Eckroth strips things down and goes back to basics.
One (Blackbird Sessions) is Eckroth’s first solo piano album and although it contains a faithful version of the evergreen Ellington classic “Prelude To A Kiss,” most of the fare are originals she created on the spot. Yet, it’s very melodic and linear with as much classical mannerisms as it has of jazz.
In the video bowing above, “Three Wheels” gives us a lot to ponder in the span of barely two minutes. It’s defined by full, flowing chords strung together as a delicately urbane strain with a slight detour or two and an authenticity that permeates the rest of the album, too.
Rachel Eckroth’s One debuts on April 21, 2023 and you can get it here from Bandcamp.
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