CD REVIEW

Janie Horton
A Gift From Janie
(Metaxy)

By PJ Birosik

With over a hundred piano recordings begging for attention, why should you bother with a new artist like Janie Horton when discs by the critically-acclaimed George Winston, David Lanz, Michael Jones, and Suzanne Ciani are abundantly available? Because no one can touch her when it comes to establishing a consistent ambience of pure, unadulterated spaciousness.

Campbell's keyboard instrumentals are so pure, so transparently tranquil, that one can virtually disappear inside the music with no effort at all. By combining her gentle, flowing melodies with the occasional environmental accent (seabirds, wind, water), Campbell guides the listener towards a serene embrace of the natural world. These crystalline textures are further enhanced with tastefully restrained guest performances by cellist Joan (ex-Kronos Quartet) Jeanrenaud, violinist Daniel Kobialka, and guitarist Rick Ruskin, resulting in a seamlessly smooth listening experience from the title track to "Acceptance."

This latter tune is a somber yet ultimately sweet duet for piano and violin that evolves with much dynamic tension on a microcosmic scale; its subtle ebbs and flows move like graceful dancers through a misty landscape before disappearing from view like wraiths.