Bill Laurance is best known for his collaborations with David Crosby, Michael League and the band Snarky Puppy, but it’s undoubtedly his solo work that expresses his personality most notably.
On ten of his own compositions, the pianist deploys a remarkable poetic vein.
A luminous touch, an assertive taste for nuance, a writing style of great melodic legibility… everything here is designed to delight lovers of fine piano music. Laurance frequently lets his classical background shine through, without ever forgetting that he is first and foremost a jazz musician, and he displays an impressive imagination that allows him to vary moods while remaining stylistically unified, all magnified by a superb sound recording in a church.
The soundscapes he paints are so serene in their charm that it’s a pleasure to follow them, expressing a lyricism of obvious sincerity. No quest for harmonic or rhythmic complexity here. No quest for technical feat either.
Bill Laurance confides in us with modesty and elegance, and it’s hard to remain unmoved by such candor.
Line up:
Bill Laurance: piano
Lumen is a Selection on Couleurs Jazz Radio. It was released by the label Act, on September 26, 2025.
©Photo Header Julian Lennon
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