A DIFFERENT VIEW

Both of Kit Watkins' parents were classical piano teachers. And (surprise!) he was taugh to play at a very early age. On this album, Watkins pays tribute to his parents with this set of mostly relatively obscure classical pieces, played Watkins style on an array of keyboards.

The album is very compelling, and extremely interesting, although I do question Watkins' choice of opening and closing the album with different versions of Erik Satie's 1st Gymnopedie. This piece, a perennial favorite of new agers, is one of the most boring soporific pieces ever written. And on top of that, those of us old enough to remember will forever associate the piece with an awful old Geritol commercial ("My wife, I think I'll keep her").

That song aside, the album is an excellent selection of classical works played mostly electronically. And it can be played at dinner parties.