"Sunrise Over New York (2022)" is the latest single from Pete Calandra and Straight Up. This piece first appeared on Pete's 2015 album, First Light and has been reworked for this release by adding soprano sax (Dale Kleps), acoustic bass (Kermit Driscoll) and light percussion (Howard Joines) to Pete's always-stellar piano. Pete also composed, engineered, mixed and mastered the piece, which begins with some ambient sounds before the sax and piano start to work their magic. Very slow and serene at first, the sax and piano carry on a blissful exchange as the dawn breaks and the city gradually comes back to life. The piece becomes much bigger and more dramatic in the second half, undoubtedly expressing the explosion of morning colors as the sun rises. The recurring theme of the piece is smooth and soothing, and the various contrasting passages create vivid images and sparkling colors. Pete also created a gorgeous music video for this piece that is available on YouTube (link to the left of this review).

"Sunrise Over New York (2022)" is available from Amazon, Apple Music/iTunes and streaming sites including Spotify. Highly recommended!