Spontaneous Piano Journeys by Ashot Danielyan: Ten Impossibly Beautiful Piano Improvations

Sending us into the weekend is truly one of the most beautiful albums I've ever come across. Spontaneous Piano Journeys, courtesy of Moscow-based pianist Ashot Danielyan, delivers ten solo piano improvisations, each as delicate, haunting, and profound as the last. 

Recorded over the course of December last year to earlier this month, Ashot's latest offering demonstrates exactly why he's such a celebrated musician. A masterful and innovative pianist, he's won numerous awards for his talents, and once you've absorbed Spontaneous Piano Journeys, you'll clearly understand why.

Warm Winter gently enters, setting the scene with tranquil and meditative tones before making way for 9 AM, a spacious, calming, and highly emotive composition. 

The wonderfully named Almost Nobody Wants To Be A God Here is next up, and it's at this point that Ashot pulls you fully into his world. Building a vast, weighty soundscape, the lush piece is all-consuming and certainly a highlight of the record.

Other personal favourites include Cold Winter, Classical Man, and the album's majestic closer Old Habits Die Hard. That said, it's a record that reveals new depths with each listen, so approach it like a journey - as intended.

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