Bruce Brubaker - Glass Cage: Music for Piano by Philip Glass & John Cage (2009)

Though he may not be a piano superstar, Bruce Brubaker is clearly a musician to watch. On this recording of solo piano works by Philip Glass and John Cage, Brubaker somehow shifts between these two very different modernist composers to create a seamless disc of mesmerizing keyboard music. While Glass's own playing is often precise and austere, Brubaker is a different beast altogether. With him, we get a hint of Impressionism and a sense of contemplation with each note. The five parts of Metamorphosis are given shades of melancholy, along with frenzy; on the expansive "Mad Rush," Brubaker goes wild where he has to, but always returns to the piece's calming, sweet center. The piano music of John Cage is limited to just two cuts--"A Room" and "Dream"--but they, too, are hauntingly beautiful (especially the latter, longer piece). For anyone who has grown tired of Philip Glass's recent electronic keyboard forays or the ubiquitous prepared-piano CDs of John Cage, Glass Cage will sound like a fresh and sublime homecoming to two musical mavericks. Recommended. --Jason Verlinde