Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Fabio D'Andrea is a talented young man: a concert pianist, composer, studio engineer and Musical Director at London's renowned Kensington Temple. This enjoyable CD showcases him as pianist and composer as he takes six very well known piano pieces and interleaves them with six of his own reflections upon them. This is certainly audacious - standing on the shoulders of giants, to coin a phrase - but we are pleased to report that he pulls it off (or gets away with it!). He does teeter on the edge of pastiche but just about stays on the reflective, responsive side. The album opens with Erik Satie's beloved "Gymnopedie Number One" which sets the tone well. Later we hear Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Gershwin and Debussy with Gershwin here seeming to be the odd one out. However, to my ears at least, D'Andrea seems most comfortable with Gershwin (it is his "Prelude Number Two") which is not to say that he handles any of the others poorly but if he ever decides to record an entire album of works by one of these six great composers I would recommend he went with George. The sleeve pictures show D'Andrea as a mean and moody looking guy, with leather jacket, denims and builders' boots. The quick comparison would be with Jimmy Rhodes although Fabio's playing is not as exuberant as Jimmy's (which is not a criticism, by the way). Rather, Fabio comes across as very much a New Romantic. This collection has no discernable Christian content but this does not appear to have been Fabio D'Andrea's aim. We hope to hear him again and if he cares to include some Bach along with his own reflection of him we will not object.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.