The Flowing

Randy Klein has had many musical interests during his career, ranging from musical theater, pop, R&B, country, and jazz. But this outing is one focused on solo jazz improvisations, all recorded in a single evening. Given that the pianist has done a lot of writing for theater, it is not surprising that many of these improvisations sound like compositions, though most of them have a meditative, pastoral flavor to them. Unlike some solo piano improvisers, Klein doesn't find himself sticking to vamps in a holding pattern as he searches for the next idea, so his lyricism never gets lost in the process. It is easy to imagine some of these pieces being used in a documentary or feature film. Each of the dozen performances was recorded in one take without editing or overdubs, while he explains in his liner notes that six other improvisations recorded the same night were omitted because they didn't measure up to the standards of the dozen he selected. While some listeners might be tempted to classify Randy Klein's playing as being new age (as some labeled Keith Jarrett's solo improvisations), his inventiveness and lyricism put him in the jazz camp, though he doesn't easily fit into any particular style.