Album Review/ Classical : Joe Kenney’s ‘The Improvised Cinematic Piano Sessions’

Joe Kenney is a pianist, classical composer and songwriter. His music is marked by a burst of freshness, because of explorative style, eclectic variety and musical articulation. His arrangements carry an individualistic style, a novelty that feels authentic. And that mark is distinctive, one that you can trust to elevate your ambience and your space. 

His latest release is ‘The Improvised Cinematic Piano Sessions’, an album, whose every track seems to linger a little bit longer in human moments. Stretches it, swims in it, and creates a space to stay in that feeling. A lot of the time, emotions feel a little complex and it may cause us to leave it and not make sense of it. But with Joe Kenney’s collection, you get a compelling map to explore it for yourself. The artist’s work is so delightfully compelling, creating an expanse for you to either just chill in, study with or relax in. 

Some of the themes that the artist deals with are grief, romance, healing, growth, perspective. And concepts like ambivalence, coping, and effort. All of it presented with storytelling compositions, some given to us with the drama of fantasies, others with a momentous softness. An abstract ambience that will move you towards the emotion, lighten you and carry you as if like a breeze. In ‘Coming to Terms’, the artist presents the theme like a valley, with soft highs and lows. As you journey through difficult times, it could be comforting in the journey towards simplicity, inevitability, and acceptance. 

‘Unravelling’ has an enjoyable classical drama attached to it. The atmosphere, with its tonal variances, performative rhythms, and narrative notes all bring the theme to life. Lamentous but also contemplative; feels like reading classic Russian literature. In ‘Majestic Uncertainty’, the artist presents the theme with abstract flavors, embracing the randomness and letting it flow throughout the song. And like that, across the collection, he creates so many conceptual pockets that speak to his virtuoso, thoughtful songwriting, and doting presence. 

In ‘Of Dawning and Longing’, you get to experience the viscerality of yearning. ‘Upstream’ contrasts this with its light tones, luminous notes, and buoyant rhythms. ‘Striving’ is a slower composition with a little bit of a drag to it. He captures the nature of the theme, leads us into its shadows and soft pains, leaving us to decide how it ends. 

‘Ambivalence’ is, as the name suggests, a composition that dallies in the grey. There’s no clarity, neither confusion. Just a coexistence, a beautiful harmony between contrasting contexts, feelings, emotions, and an acceptance of it as natural and true. ‘Romance in D Major’ is soft, youthful, uplifting and a fresh composition. Lastly, we have ‘Resolution’, a slow track with a lot of quiet moments within it. Even the melodies seem kind of silent. And it’s a perfect song to enjoy your solitude, especially if you are thinking, writing, or meditating. It is solemn, with compassionate wisdom. Listen Now! 

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The album is available for streaming on popular sites like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music! 

You can listen to ‘The Improvised Cinematic Piano Sessions’ by Joe Kenney here -