Richard Shulman's Summer Solstice Piano Meditations is an incredibly relaxing solo piano album (plus gentle nature sounds in the background) that expresses many of the qualities of the beginning of summer. This album is the second in a series that honors solstices and equinoxes, and follows Richard's 2024 release, Spring Equinox Piano Meditations. Like that album, Summer Solstice was recorded on a Kawai concert grand piano in the Prayer Dome at the United Research Light Center in Black Mountain, NC (USA). The album also has a significant video component that features a combination of Richard's performances of the music and peaceful nature footage. With direction, cinematography and editing by Tanya Gupta, the visuals add a beautiful element to the music. The nature sounds behind the music (rainfall, birds, waves, etc.) are subtle, but also have a very soothing quality. In these unsettled (and unsettling!) times this 73-minute album offers hope as well as quiet escape from the noise and tensions of our ongoing world situation.

More ambient and improvisational than melodic, the nine tracks on Summer Solstice range from just under four minutes to just over twenty, giving the music plenty of time to evolve and explore. It provides a very peaceful atmosphere in the background, but is also very easy to get lost in with full concentration, offering something of a mind massage either way. Trained in both classical music and jazz, Richard Shulman has developed a heartfelt musical language and focuses much of his output on music for meditation, healing and inspiration - music with a purpose. This is the 30th of Richard's own albums and he has collaborated on dozens more.

Summer Solstice opens with "Rainy Day Solstice," which starts with the sound of rain and various birds and insects. Absolutely serene, the music itself doesn't use an abundance of notes, but is expressive and deeply heartfelt. "Transcendent" also has rain and bird sounds in addition to the piano, which is very spare and ambient - soooo peaceful! If this eleven-minute track doesn't quiet your mind, something is amiss! "Summer Solstice" picks up the tempo a bit and is more melodic, but is still very relaxing and warm. "Fullness" is contentment set to music - warm, easy and soothing! "Summer Ease" is the 20-minute track, and is very slow, open and hypnotic. Some passages are more melodic than others, flowing easily and organically with gentle bird sounds in the background. If you have trouble sleeping, this one just might help! "Clusters" makes excellent use of the piano's damper pedal to a create a shimmering effect that could be steam rising off of a body of water or a quiet summer rain - relax and let your imagination take you where it will. "Christmas In June" is an interesting title that suggests the peace and goodwill that the music expresses. "Bells of Summer" does have a bell-like quality made even more effective with the echoing effect of holding the damper pedal down for longer passages (without letting them get "muddy"). "Goodbye To a Summer Day" brings the album to a quiet, serene close, and feels like a very contented smile. Ahhhhh....

Summer Solstice Piano Meditations is available as a CD or download from Richard's website and Amazon, to stream or download on Apple Music/ iTunes, and from streaming platforms including Pandora and Spotify. This is music with a purpose and is exceptionally well done!