Nathan Ben-Yahuda & Astral Mixtape - The Power of the Keyboard

 

Nathan Ben-Yahuda & Astral Mixtape — The Power of the Keyboard

180-gram 45 RPM LP

Rated 4.5/5 Music, 5/5 Sonics in the April 2024 issue of The Absolute Sound!

"We are so proud to announce the debut release on Yarlung Records of the brilliant young pianist Nathan Ben-Yehuda together with his classical-fusion ensemble Astral Mixtape. Nathan has curated a fascinating program, creating an expansive sound world spanning the centuries."— Yarlung Records

"The sonics in the recordings of solo piano pieces are outstanding. Nathan Ben-Yehuda is a compelling young pianist. The recording quality is also top-drawer, just as I've come to expect from Bob Attiyeh's recordings." — Rushton Paul, Positive Feedback review of the Pure DSD256 release

Nathan Ben-Yehuda pursues a fulltime solo concert career as a classical pianist but also plays with Astral Mixtape, an innovative crossover quartet writing new works and reimagining classics from Monteverdi to Rimsky-Korsakov, and playing with ideas and thematic material from Sigur Ros to Radiohead and Four Tet. We end this album with two tracks by Astral Mixtape. The second side offers "Goddess Gardens," including intoxicating "mixtape" snippets from "Scheherazade" and Vaughan Williams' "Lark Ascending," as well as more recent fare. "Seven Hellos" closes the album on side two, an original composition by the four members of the quartet. Astral Mixtape is clearly close to Nathan's heart:

"I am part of this wonderful band of fellow classical musicians who are seeking to reimagine the conventional roles of our instruments, and applying non-classical approaches to arrangement and composition in our works. Astral Mixtape is the collaborative project most personal to me."

Before we get to Astral Mixtape, however, Nathan's solo piano repertoire makes a powerful statement. Not only can Nathan handle the delicate Haydn beautifully, but also kindly agreed to play Peter Sculthorpe's "Nocturnal" for us.

— Bob Attiyeh, producer

Features:
180-gram 45 RPM LP
Recorded August 2-5, 2022 in Samueli Theater at Sergerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California
Recording Engineers: Bob Attiyeh & Arian Jansen
Mastering Engineers: Steve Hoffman, Arian Jansen, Bob Attiyeh
Vinyl Mastering: Bernie Grundman
Made in Germany

 

Side A

1. Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:40 (Joseph Haydn)

2. Nocturnal (Peter Sculthorpe)

Side B

1. Goddess Gardens (Astral Mixtape)

2. Seven Hellos (Astral Mixtape)

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