Mia Jang
Sweet Dreams – Piano Solos (Narada 46452)

Solid solo piano music in the George Winston school … elegant, simple, melodic, yawn, boring. But very pretty. Ponderous explorations that would not sound out of place in the soundtrack to "Providence" or a series of coffee commercials, or both.

Mainly major-key stuff, bright, shimmery and warm, with a couple of minor-key tunes thrown in for variety. Nothing gets too overblown or, alternately, too inspiring, and if you weren't paying close attention you'd assume it was a Christmas album.

Bland as it is, it'd make good lullaby music, though I could think of ten better solo piano discs for discriminating listeners. The only song that really stands out is "Blue Lantern," which sounds like a silent-movie theme from Japan; everything else sounds like Pachelbel's Canon or something from George Winston's December.

Recommended for people who wispily say "Oh, it's so pretty."

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Jessica Stripps