Improvisations On The Pipe Organs Of Europe vinyl

A year or two back, Canadian pianist Blake Hargreaves spent some time touring significant churches in Europe in order to play their mighty pipe organs and record his own improvised pieces. The results, collected here on a curious but hugely enjoyable album, somehow manage to sound both distinctly old and strangely contemporary. What you get is a mixture of jaunty, accessible workouts, hushed laments, slowly shifting ambient pieces and off-the-cuff compositions that draw influence from the cyclical minimalist classics of Steve Reich and Terry Riley. It's certainly a curio, but one that contains some genuinely moving and enjoyable music.

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