Sam Reider: Petrichor

There is something very George Gershwin-like about Petrichor from pianist Sam Reider. He recorded this solo session after moving back to the Bay area from New York where he studied at Columbia University and did a deep dive into American folk music. Like Gershwin, his playing is informed by not only jazz, but classical and popular music. Maybe his interests in bluegrass and Americana explains why the sound is situated sixty to eighty years ago, when jazz evolved from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, absorbing classical influences into popular performance.

The spectral single notes that open "Mirror Lake" chase a haunting chamber sound that courts momentum as much as it does stillness. Reider percolates a joyful sound with his two handed attack on the title track, tracing patterns of ever brightening sound. He traces sentimentality with "Petrichor," which best reflects his take on Gershwin, even quoting a bit of "Rhapsody in Blue." The sentimentality is doubled with "Kansas," but without sounding syrupy. One could easily imagine Tom Waits writing lyrics to the composition. Same might be said for "Wandering Aengus." Sam Reider has a knack for writing new music that has a familiar sound. Let's say he has an old soul encased in some sprightly fingers.