Veteran session musician, keyboardist, composer, and producer
John Carroll Kirby
has laced Grammy-nominated songs by
Norah Jones
("Chasing Pirates") and
Solange
("Cranes in the Sky"), and counts
Sebastien Tellier
,
Bat for Lashes
Frank Ocean
, and
Harry Styles
among the other artists whose songs have been illuminated by his fine touch. Having established a series of conceptual and primarily instrumental solo releases for assorted labels,
Kirby
linked with
Stones Throw
in 2019.
My Garden
was intended to be the first album through his new outlet. It arrived as planned in April 2020 but was preceded earlier that month by
Conflict
, a surprise digital-only release offered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas the tranquil
was strictly piano-based with minimal shading,
is more varied, a bit livelier and, well, verdant -- generous, homespun avant-pop instrumentals underpinned by new age and jazz. The nine pieces may seem like rudimentary sketches with casual listening. In time, they start to coalesce with the themes in the track titles, which fluctuate from earthen and elemental to spiritual and mythical, and reveal the purpose and thoughtfulness in
's playing. Right after the opening "Blueberry Beads," a somewhat forceful and bumping number redolent of his work on
's "Down with the Clique,"
settles into a mode of restful wonderment, sometimes emphasizing shakuhachi-like trills and undulating synthesizer patterns, and occasionally forgoing piano altogether (as he did on 2017's
Travel
and 2018's
Meditations in Music
). Apart from those exceptions,
's piano is central. Only in the opening of "Wind," in which the notes flow in free-spirited clusters, does it stray from a lyrical simplicity that extends friendly companionship. Whether compared to the progressions of
's cross-continental inspirations (
Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou
Andrew Hill
Yoshio Suzuki
) or those of his nearest contemporaries (such as
Garrett
and
Bremer/McCoy
),
is its own gratifying thing. ~ Andy Kellman