The curiously named British composer Jonathan FeBland, born in 1960, says that he has composed music "in several different styles including Contemporary Serious Music, Light Educational Music, and various different Jazz styles." This may seem a bit schematic, but each category is entertaining in its way. Start with the contemporary serious music, which lands somewhere between
Bartók and the progressive edge of British music in the 1960s and 1970s; FeBland writes music with clear, abstract patterns that lead the ear down natural paths. What he calls light educational music mostly consists of evocations of the national styles of a century ago; what's attractive here is FeBland's ability to suggest a Russian Prelude, say, in a few strokes without seeming trite. The jazz pieces, in fact, are the most derivative; FeBland adds a few parallel lines and such, but he sticks uncomfortably close to well-worn models such as boogie-woogie. He is at his best when he introduces abstract ideas into jazz textures, as in "Leaps and Bounds" (track 25) from the 12 Jazz Piano Pieces that conclude the program. London-born pianist
Louis Demetrius Alvanis is in tune with the economical gestures that are this modest but enjoyable music's greatest strength. It certainly breaks no new ground, but it somehow can't quite be described with the adjective "conservative."