Pianist Liz Story is one of those artists who shows both the need for and limitations of the so-called "new age" tag. Her music is difficult, if not impossible, to categorize. It's not quite jazz. It's not quite classical. It's not pop standards. The music's often meditative nature causes her to be placed in the new age or adult alternative category. With Night Sky Essays, her first release of new material in seven years, Story reinforces both her artistry and ability to blend styles.
Story was one of the artists who helped make Windham Hill Records a pre-eminent label in the new age field. Over the course of the relationship, she incorporated elements of myriad styles. She issued releases ranging from solo piano originals to solo covers of jazz and pop standards to separate collaborations with synthesist Mark Isham and jazz bassist Joel DiBartolo. Night Sky Essays, her first with record label Digital Musicworks, takes her back to solo piano originals that typify her lyrical and light approach.
Night Sky Essays contains 12 original compositions, each named for one of the constellations making up the zodiac. As has usually been the case with her recordings, none of the pieces is an extended one; the longest clocks in at five minutes. But Story says plenty in short amounts of time. She seems to excel at using a phrase or two (not hooks, mind you) that grab you intellectually or emotionally. As has been true in her past work, these phrases aren't frequently repeated but are strong enough to reach out and draw you in.
While Night Sky Essays is predicated on the zodiac, Story still leaves the listener wondering. Are these compositions intended to reflect the particular zodiac sign or do they seek to capture a feeling or mood which arises from gazing up at the constellation in the night sky? She further confounds with subtitles that appear on the inside of the CD insert but not the exterior.
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