"Her First Night" on the ever-reliable ECM label is a highly enjoyable album from the Ukrainian musician and pianist Misha Alperin. This, his latest album released in 2008 is a beautiful piano-led mixture of instrumentals which effortlessly combine haunting with melancholic, dramatic with melodic, and some jaunty faster pieces complement the variations in style. Some of the more melodic pieces here are not a million miles away from "The Promise" by Vassilis Tsabropoulos', an amazing album which I raved about here, but that would only be a lazy comparison.
Alperin is joined by Arkady Shilkloper on French horn, flugelhorn and on violincello Anja Lechner. The latter I am fast becoming a big fan of through albums such as "Chants, Hymns and Dances" and "Melos" with Vassilis Tsabropoulos and "Ojos Negros" with Dino Saluzzi and various recordings with Rosamunde Quartett with whom she is a member.
I don't know if it's anything with getting older, but lately I find my musical preferences leaning towards to the more slower paced and mellow side of the musical spectrum. Not a bad thing I would say, for sometimes we need to take a step back from the chaos of daily life. Saying that, I am not a pipe and Horlicks man. Yet.
Key tracks for me include the title track "Her First Dance", "Tiflis" and "April In February", to name just three.
The best place to source sound clips is here.
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