Christian Sands – Crash
Album: Be Water
Christian Sands: Piano, Yasushi Nakamura: Bass, Clarence Penn: Drums
March 1, 2024
I’m a beach person. I grew up going to Virginia Beach every summer with my family, and, in between the sand castles, boogie boarding, hot dogs, and all of those other things that little boys do at the beach, I used to also sit at the water’s edge, looking out at the ocean, hearing the steady, powerful and soothing roar of the waves, and feeling the vastness of the earth. Some people look up at the night sky, some climb mountains, but for me, it’s the ocean. So, when this track came along, I was primed.
Fun fact: Christian Sands was Dr Billy Taylor’s last mentee. Suffice it to say, then, that I have been following the last mentee of my favorite pianist of all time with some interest. I was lucky enough to see him perform a few years back. Originally from New Haven, Connecticut, Christian introduced this tune by describing standing on the beach watching the waves break and hearing it in his head. All those years ago sitting on the Virginia shoreline, I never heard awesome chord progressions combined with drums and bass reproducing the power of the ocean, but I sure do now.
I sure do now.
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