Richard Shulman’s Autumn Equinox - Piano Meditations is the third in a series of albums that honor solstices and equinoxes. It follows Spring Equinox - Piano Meditations (2024) and Summer Solstice - Piano Meditations (2025) (I have reviewed both albums here on MainlyPiano.com). The nine improvised piano solos on the Autumn Equinox album are very soothing and relaxing, offering an hour of peace and calm in our stress-filled times. The music was recorded in a private session on September 22, 2023 and during a concert at the Light Center in Black Mountain, NC on September 24, 2023. Videos for each of the tracks on the album will be available by mid-September 2026, adding depth and meaning to each piece. Trained in both classical music and jazz, Shulman focuses much of his creative output on music for meditation, healing and inspiration. I would expect that this album would also be very helpful to people who have trouble sleeping. There are no percussive jolts and the music is spare and leisurely, soothing the mind and relaxing the body with beautiful piano music.

Autumn Equinox - Piano Meditations begins with “Equinox Impression,” a very slow, open piece that sets the tone and mood of the album. “First Colors” is easy to get very pleasantly “lost” in with its relaxed pace and gentle splashes of changing tonal colors throughout its 8 1/2 minute playing time. “Gentle Beginning” is a bit more melodic and flowing with openings in the music that allow it (and the listener!) to breathe. At just under thirteen minutes, “Leaves Swirling” creates a vivid picture of colorful leaves being swept up by the wind and being gently transported from place to place. Shulman makes very effective use of the damper pedal to create an echoing effect that is peaceful and serene. “Autumn Mood” is a favorite, expressing quiet contentment and inner peace. At a bit over ten minutes, “Falling Leaves” becomes a beautiful meditation with many open spaces in the music as well as descending passages that suggest the movement of brightly-colored leaves falling gracefully from the trees to the ground. “Fertile Soil Beneath the Leaves” seems to speak to the wonder of the cycle of life - very open and expressive. In “Feeling Peaceful,” Shulman again makes very effective use of the dampers to create feelings of open space and an almost blissful inner peace. The album comes to a serene close with “Resting With the Trees,” something of a lullaby for “big kids” that seems to suggest that everything will be okay.

Autumn Equinox - Piano Meditations is a breath of musical fresh air that expresses hope as well as the more literal impressions and expressions of changing seasons. It will be released on August 28, 2026 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon. CDs and downloads can be pre-ordered from Richard Shulman’s website. More links will be added as they become available. Be sure to check it out!