Robin Spielberg - Another Time, Another Place (2015)

Pianist Robin Spielberg's first album of all original material (albeit there is one original arrangement of a traditional Italian song) in seven years, Another Time, Another Place, will remind her legions of fans why they fell in love with her music in the first place. Spielberg has always excelled at blending a neo-classical influence (shaded with romanticism) with both semi-pop and traditional new age styles, and on this new release, she shows that even after taking an absence from recording her own compositions (more or less), Spielberg not only hasn't lost a step, but may have reached a new height in versatility and virtuosity. These eleven numbers are suffused with sincere sentimentality (nary a trace of faux, maudlin sappiness), whether the artist is slowly unwinding a patient, reflective tune or going all out and pouring every ounce of passion she has into the ivories. Spielberg is unafraid of shifts in tempo and mood mid-tune, something that she handles with a balance of both unpretentious bravado and utmost finesse. Another Time, Another Place was well worth the wait.