GLEB KOLYADIN
The Outland KSCOPE
Virtuosic piano compositions from Iamthemorning man.
Over the course of studio and live releases with Iamthemorning and through his two previous solo outings, Russian-born pianist Gleb Kolyadin has proven himself a prodigious and supremely talented musician. This impression is now further enhanced by The Outland – a collection of six wholly instrumental compositions recorded over some six months utilising multiple studios around the world.
A MASTERCLASS IN COMMUNICATING MOODS THROUGH MUSIC.
Blending neo-classical composition with elements of fusion and symphonic prog has become a bit of a signature approach for Kolyadin, and this album continues in this vein. Opener Voyager starts off gently enough with some pastorally inclined piano and flute, before things starts to ramp up with drums and subtle strains of strings as playful modern jazz with more than a hint of Latin takes shape. Largely quite jaunty, it does make a diversion into slightly darker territory about three minutes in before developing into a strong groove orientated, head-nodding pocket. It’s a probing, multilayered musical journey, with added choir.
On a similar tack, Mercurial is probably the most obvious nod to 70s jazz-fusion, although it does also contain the merest hint of some of Rick Wakeman’s quasi-classical work. It also illustrates the extent to which Kolyadin’s supporting musicians work sympathetically – guests here include drummer Gavin Harrison and long-time Kolyadin collaborator Vlad Avy on guitars. For the majority of the time these players enhance proceedings with a minimum of fuss and don’t get in the way of the tunes or Kolyadin’s playing, so any individual instrumental flourishes really stand out
– as occurs here with Harrison exploding into life behind the drums about two-thirds of the way in.
The one solo piano piece on the album, Cascades, perhaps channels Kolyadin’s St Petersburg Conservatory training better than anything else here – from delicate, spacious phrases through to frantic, urgent flurries of notes, this is an undeniable musical objet d’art.
The intent with this release was to create music which views the world from different angles, moving outside and glancing back, enabling the construction of, in Kolyadin’s words, “a world within a world, assembled from disparate fragments”. This took on further relevance for him as he was forced to leave his Russian homeland during the creation of the album. It’s a masterclass in contemporary piano, compositional journeys and in communicating moods and concepts through music, without ever becoming too arch or wilfully eclectic. At points it’s also quite beautiful.