From Keys to Connections: Ed Bazel Named as Kayserburg’s Worldwide Ambassador
It’s highly-possible that, as of press time, The London Sessions: New Perspectives from Studio 2 (LS2) was the first Contemporary Piano album to be recorded, produced, mixed and mastered from beginning to end, with immersive audio fans in mind. The spatial audio version of Ed Bazel’s latest piano album places listeners virtually “on the piano bench” at Abbey Road’s Studio 2 with Bazel, hearing the spaces in and around the piano, with light touches of violin and cello (Austin Hoke and Laura Epling, respectively), in a new and vibrant way.
The album features nine original compositions, plus covers of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and a heart-wrenching rendition of “The Long and Winding Road” by The Beatles. Among its accolades, the track “Soaring” earned Bazel the Best New Age Song award at the 2024 World Entertainment Awards, an ICMA honor. The album contributed to Bazel being awarded Instrumentalist of the Year at The LIT Awards recently. The sound of LS2 is rich yet deceptively simple, paired with instrumental touches that evoke a wide range of emotions. Simply put, The London Sessions: New Perspectives from Studio 2 presents relaxing and romantic melodies for listeners who want to unwind and enjoy life.
The London Sessions New Perspectives from
Studio 2 is a triumph for Bazel and his team. Bazel’s touch at the piano is thoughtful, melodic, relaxed and unhurried. He has a talent for unique arrangements that can only come from years of playing from the heart. To record the album, Bazel and co-producer Alex Carter returned to London’s Abbey Road Studios for the second time with his studio dream team including Recording Engineer Gordon Davidson, Mastering Engineer Andrew Walter, and Executive Producer Tim Shelton. The 3-day session was captured by photographer Carsten Windhorst.
For the immersive audio version of the album, an all-star GRAMMY®️-winning team joined forces in California. Herbert Waltl’s media HYPERIUM Studios produced the immersive version, mixed by award-winning audio mixer Eric Schilling, and mastered by Michael Romanowski of Coast Mastering. Waltl comments, “Immersive audio productions allow us producers and engineers to delve freely into the intricate and delicate layers of music. And that is exactly what Ed’s interpretation of the songs is all about: striving for a closer connection to the listeners, taking them on a new emotional journey with these melodies. Immersive/Spatial audio presents the most natural listening experience of any recorded material. Sounds can be not just from the front, like in stereo, but from all around like in any real live situation. It puts the listener in the center of an audio environment.”
Bazel clearly lives for the beauty and powerful emotion that can be finessed out of a concert grand piano, sublime music for those seeking serenity in the modes of contemporary piano, easy listening, and new age piano. Bazel’s preceding album, The London Sessions: Reflections from Studio 2, was released in 2022 with high praise, winning over a dozen awards, and attracting a wide range of new fans. To welcome his new listeners, Bazel recently announced a private fan community called “Ed Bazel’s Elegant Piano Escape” accessible to all to join for free at https://www.edbazel.com/escape
For a full review of the album, and a live interview with Bazel conducted by Keith Hannaleck, click here
Joining forces with Kayserburg – Pianos for Artists
Ed Bazel’s long and winding road as an independent pianist, entrepreneur, and visionary sometimes takes him to surprising new places. He is also founder of The River of Calm—Music to Soothe Your Soul, an online radio station, and the affiliated River of Calm – Headphones for Chemotherapy program which supplies pre-programmed calming music to chemotherapy centers to help to relax their patients during treatment. It is a program that Bazel started after experiencing his own family’s cancer journey; a crowdfunding page to help to grow the program is live on GoFundMe. Bazel credits the documentary film Alive! Inside for the idea, and has worked with them to develop his chemotherapy-focused program.
Bazel plays live when the opportunity arises (he even organized a team of pianists to play the piano in a hospital waiting room in Nashville) and one such live concert led to the fortuitous meeting resulting in his recent appointment as the Worldwide Brand Ambassador for Kayserburg pianos.
The Kayserburg line reflects Pearl River’s goal to create the world’s finest pianos. Entirely handmade from 8,000 perfectly matched components by skilled artisans who are closely supervised and trained by Swiss master piano technician Stephen Mohler, Kayserburg represents the ultimate expression of German craftsmanship.
“Not only is he an accomplished pianist and composer, but his community outreach—whether it’s providing headphones with healing music to people undergoing chemotherapy or composing music to help the autistic find their singing voice—meshes perfectly with the Kayserburg brand.”
In summary, Ed Bazel is both an artist to watch, and to enjoy in a variety of media formats: CD, stereo, video, and the immersive version is best listened to with superior headphones or earbuds; it can be found on Apple Music and other platforms that provide immersive audio experiences, including Amazon and Tidal. Visit him at EdBazel.com
