Bill Laurance Close To Home Iv Vinyl

The essence of the duo formed by pianist Bill Laurance and bassist and oud player Michael League: say a lot with very little – a concept that, through two albums released to date and acclaimed concerts, has earned them a following that, for once, truly deserves to be called "cult". For their third album together, "Close to Home", the two retreated to a magical place: Château Palmer in the Bordeaux region, home to some of the world's finest Grands Crus, as well as a place of creativity and encounter. The album goes deeper into what the duo is in its purest form: simple, exposed and raw. The musicians' breathing is audible as they play, as is the sound of the strings of the oud and the gentle thud of the machinery of the grand piano; in the pauses between the notes, birdsong drifts in from the garden of the Château. Many of the tracks were written at night, often between 2 and 5 am. The focus is not on individual styles but on distinctive moods, carried by clear melodies and rhythms: Western and Eastern music, influences from North and South America and the Mediterranean, pop, jazz, blues, folk and minimal music, all part of the vocabulary of a shared musical language forged over more than twenty years of collaboration and close friendship. As Michael League says: "We're inviting the listener to be in this house along with us, rather than trying to put on a show for them."