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THE STUNNING NEW PIANO OPUS FROM RICK WAKEMAN

12-TRACKS OF INSTRUMENTAL PIANO MASTERY FROM THE LEGENDARY YES KEYSMAN.

one of the most meaningful suites of piano music I have ever done Rick Wakeman

With Melancholia, Rick Wakeman completes a remarkable trilogy of solo piano works that began with Piano Portraits (2017) & continued with Piano Odyssey (2018) both landmark albums that found him reaching new heights of popularity & critical esteem as a solo artist. But while those records looked outward, reinterpreting beloved melodies & exploring sweeping themes, Melancholia turns inward, inviting us into the most personal, introspective & perhaps profound music of Wakemans storied career.

The album began, as so much of Wakemans finest work has, with a quiet moment at the piano. One afternoon, his wife Rachel overheard him playing a contemplative piece what would later become Garo & was struck by its quiet emotional power. And because she knew well that he often turned to the piano in times of sadness or inner turbulence, using music as a kind of emotional compass, she encouraged him to share it.

Long live the King of the Keyboards Sunday Express

What followed was not a conceptual record in the traditional sense, but a deeply cohesive suite, written intuitively at first & later shaped in collaboration with long-time producer & engineer Erik Jordan at The Granary Studio in Norfolk. Recorded on a beautiful Steinway Model D, the sound of Melancholia is rich, resonant & stripped bare in the most delicate way.

Wakeman, of course, needs little introduction. A virtuoso keyboardist, composer & arranger, he rose to fame with Yes, helping to define the sound of progressive rock & earning his place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His solo output spans over a hundred albums, from grand concept works to soundtracks & acoustic meditations. In 2021, he was awarded a CBE for services to music & broadcasting. Rick continues to be prolific on the live scene with a UK tour scheduled in Autumn 2025.