Sam Reider: Petrichor
Slow & Steady Records

As a word, petrichor refers to the pure, clear smell of the earth following rainfall. Consistent with that, the music on Sam Reider's same-titled album feels like both a cleansing and renewal, as if remnants of the past have been washed away to facilitate new growth. On his first solo piano recording, Reider presents eight reflections birthed upon returning to San Francisco after ten years in New York. It's a return in another sense too, as Petrichor finds him playing piano after focusing on the accordion for many years. The theme of recovery also, of course, resonates at a larger level with respect to society re-emerging with tentative hope after the isolation of pandemic-related lockdown.

Reider boasts an unusual history. As a high school pianist, he appeared on Marian McPartland's NPR program “Piano Jazz”; while majoring in American Studies at Columbia University, he began playing accordion and learning bluegrass and folk tunes, a move that in turn led to performances, from back porches to concert halls, around the world. As a U.S. Department of State musical ambassador, he's taken his accordion to China, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Estonia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. Three years ago, he returned to San Francisco, where he's now working on a Master's in composition at San Francisco State University. All such life experiences come into play in the rich fertile ground of the new recording, which was recorded at SandBox, a new performing arts venue in Sand City run by cellist Michelle Djokic, in August 2021.

While Petrichor aligns itself comfortably to the solo piano recording tradition, it registers as a distinctive personal expression, thanks to Reider's melodic sensibility, intuitive grasp of compositional form, and openness to inspiration. The pieces are less songs than introspective ruminations. They're not improvs either, though there is a spontaneity to the performances and the directions taken. With a melodic character bringing clarity to each composition, the pieces exhibit clear identities, and melody operates as a foundation solid enough to support and sustain the explorative impulses inherent to Reider's nature. Having reacquainted himself with the natural wilderness of California's redwood forests and alpine lakes, the pianist sought to capture the grandeur and beauty of the landscape where he grew up.

As personal a statement as Petrichor is, echoes of influence are at times discernible. While the press release cites figures such as Ellington, Jarrett, and Debussy as inspirations, the evidence at hand suggests George Gershwin could be added to the list. Like his music, Reider's sounds American to the core, especially when blues and folk elements work their way into the mix. Interestingly, “Emahoy,” a piece that sounds distinctly American in its jazz-blues character, turns out to be a homage to Ethiopian nun and pianist Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou. Even so, it's hard not to hear traces of the bluesier parts of An American in Paris filtering into Reider's spell-casting treatment.

August 2022