Rivers
Imagine an album of slow, jazz-tinged reveries about fishing in Wyoming, played by a chamber ensemble of piano, cello, and bass. Then imagine the composer of these reveries as the cowriter ofMadonna's "Like a Prayer" and "Live to Tell." That's the case with Patrick Leonard, a pop producer and composer who has obviously been leading a secret life as a contemplative modern instrumentalist. Leonard brings the same unerring melodic sensibility he gave Madonna to these subtle, nuanced meditations. Playing with the bass-and-cello duo of John and Sachi Patitucci and percussionist Luis Conte, Leonard creates the kind of spacious, evocative music you might associate withGeorge Winston. But Leonard has more of a jazz sensibility, and the pairing of bass and cello gives his music a darker hue. I'm always suspect of these "musical postcard" albums, but Leonard carries it off, complete with a faux-leather book cover and hand-written diary entries about his fishing excursions in Wyoming and Montana. Ultimately, however, the music creates its own pictures.--John Diliberto