The third album from Catherine Lambreche is not as sprawling or heavy as last year’s “Ornette’s Darker Ending”. It is an impressive collection of piano pieces, some of them quite tender, some of them quite heavy, some of them with a clear sense of space and the listener drifting through them. The piano playing is well-balanced and detailed, but there are moments when the piano is forced into rigid shapes or constrained by forms that do not lend themselves to its own fluidity. The music develops and changes, with the piano developing a sense of its own weight, as its instruments develop a sense of their own space.

The pianist’s compositions are no longer confined to the confines of the keyboard, but extend to include the listener. At one point her instrument appears to be standing still, as its own spaces become more permeable, but this seems to be the intention. She’s making music that moves with the listener in mind. Actually, she’s making music that moves with the space within the space that she’s using, as well. Her moving figure is not anodyne, as she moves around her surroundings in the way that she wants to.

The first half of the album is a kind of piano music for interiors, as the listener moves through the building, interacting with objects and with the buildings themselves. It’s through this interaction with the music that the listener acquires a sense of place within the environment, of their own place within the building.

There are also piano pieces for outdoor scenes, such as in the opening track “Arose” where the piano is played in a circle around a road. This creates a sense of place both with the music, as well as with the environment in play, which becomes more densely packed as the piano is played more expansively. The second half of the album is a suite of compositions for outdoor scenes, as the piano is played with a power slide in the middle of the road. This creates a feeling of place both with the music, as well as with the road itself. It’s a remarkably free-flowing approach, and one which is quite moving.

In a recent interview for The New York Public Library, Catherine Lambreche discussed the influence of the late greats such as John Cage to John Berger, but in the interview, the pianist did not elaborate on this subject. She did, however, speak of the importance of a traditionalist approach to improvisation, of a different approach to sound, and a fusion of the two approaches. She spoke of the importance of formulating a series of loose, informal, and aware guidelines for the use of the piano. She said the guidelines she uses in her music have a traditionalist feel, but they also have a modernist feel. These are not easy guidelines to follow, but she does a wonderful job with them.