Legendary keysman Rick Wakeman returns with his new piano opus ‘Melancholia’

Legendary keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman releases new album ‘Melancholia’ and takes its place as the crowning jewel in a remarkable piano trilogy that began with 2017’s ‘Piano Portraits’ and continued in 2018 with ‘Piano Odyssey’, both landmark albums that found Rick reaching new heights of popularity and critical esteem as a solo artist.

The album began, as so much of Wakeman’s finest work had, with a quiet moment at the piano. One afternoon, his wife Rachel overheard him playing a contemplative piece, what would later become ‘Garo’, and was struck by its quiet emotional power. And because she knew well that he often turned to the piano in times of sadness or inner turbulence, using music as a kind of emotional compass, she encouraged him to share it.

What followed was not a conceptual record in the traditional sense, but a deeply cohesive suite, written intuitively at first and later shaped in collaboration with long-time producer and engineer Erik Jordan at The Granary Studio in Norfolk and recorded on a beautiful Steinway Model D.

Rick Wakeman is a virtuoso keyboardist, composer, and arranger, he rose to fame with Yes, helping to define the sound of progressive rock and earning his place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His solo output spans over a hundred album, from grands concept works to soundtracks and acoustic meditations. In 2021, he was awarded a CBE for services to music and broadcasting.