Music Review // Thélonius García "Évocation"

 

While "Évocation" is a stellar piece of music on its own, this also feels like the type of song which would be part of an album as a piece of the whole.  Thélonius García has only the piano here to guide the song and though these keys come out in different octaves and tempos they still can create enough of a story that while you're listening to the song you can imagine the images moving along with it.

In modern times, this might be considered neo-classical by some but it really just has a traditional classical style to it.  Back before rock n roll came and changed the world, there was mostly that classical style of music (driven by piano) that people relate back with Mozart and Beethoven.  To that extent, this doesn't feel like something you would call a "song" as much as a "piano piece" and it's something you might play when auditioning for first chair in an orchestra type setting.

One thing which I really think about when listening to this song though is how it does sound like a song because to some extent the way it is being played feels modern.  When you listen to classical music, you'll hear a certain style of playing because it's all that they know.  To some extent, when Thélonius García is playing here, it can feel like a modern rock or pop song being covered strictly by piano.  It just feels like Thélonius García has those points of references that musicians many years ago did not.

Whether you are a fan of classical music or not, I do believe that the one thing this song does is hopefully bring in new people to the sounds of the piano and what it can truly do.  I feel like there is enough of that old classical soul within this song, yet also Thélonius García brings it around to the present tense that people will be able to listen to this and still take something away from it. I hope this song leads everyone to the full album by Thélonius García and perhaps also gives them a new perspective on the term classical music.